A stumble into Konoha
by Nihitor
Summary: Three years after Voldemort's death, Hermione Granger had finally tracked down the last of his Death Eaters. However, an unforseen incident has left her stranded and with no idea when, or where she is. A chance meeting with a certain white haired jounin leads her on an unexpected journey. Now rated M for forthcoming chapters, just in case.
1. Portal

The steady rain ran down Hermione's face, mixing with tears of frustration, anger and upset as she trudged through the mud and past the wooden houses and stalls of the quiet market town she had once called… home? It didn't resemble anything she recognised. In fact, she had no clue where, or even when, she was.

Home. The word seemed hollow to her now, her life so far away from the one her parents inhabited. _Had _inhabited.

Lifting her face upwards towards the unrelentingly grey sky, she shivered as a clump of her long hair peeled away from the back of her neck where it had become glued by the descending barrage of water. Normally uncontrollably frizzy, it now resembled the sodden strands of a mop as it fell over her skin and soaked through clothes. Just one more reason to be happy, she smirked.

Everything she'd learnt since discovering her magical gifts. Everyone she knew, before and after. Gone. Dead. Her own survival attributed only to the last drop of Felix Felicis she'd secreted about herself in case of emergencies. Luck? She was alive, definitely, but at what cost?

After it'd happened, she'd tried casting a spell with no success. Her talents had become legendary in the years since the confrontation between Tom Riddle and Harry Potter, the renowned Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin, pivotal in the conflict and subsequent fallout. They'd expected Voldemort's followers simply to give up and go into hiding. However, it hadn't quite played out that way. In his arrogance, the Dark Lord had not accounted for the bravery and tenacity of a few key members of the wizarding community and had perished, yet the widely publicised capture, trial and imprisonment of his followers had only one flaw. His name was Lucius Malfoy. Hermione sighed, wringing as much water out of her hair as she could and then cursed loudly.

~-oOo-~

"_Fitting, don't you think little Mudblood? That we should conclude this here, at the beginning of your story?"_

_Her heckles rose immediately. "What do you hope to achieve by doing this? You're insane!"_

"_Insane?" muttered the tall, gaunt figure quietly. "Perhaps." He paused and gave the woman facing him, wand drawn, a withering look. "My wife and son died, victims of a battle they had no choice in which to participate. I have spent the last three years unable to grieve for them due to you and your famous friends' attempts to track me down and cage me."_

_Hermione's eyes widened and her grip on her wand tightened, her knuckles whitening. "You… murdered them in cold blood. Your own wife and child!"_

_Lucius' face darkened into a scowl. "I had no choice. I could no longer protect them. How dare you lecture me on my actions? You stand here with your righteous indignation and you speak to me of things you could not know anything about."_

"_So this is how you choose to remember them? Wanton destruction and carnage? Families just like yours will die. Draco and Narcissa would never want this!"_

_The frown was replaced by a malevolent smile and Hermione swore she never saw eyes as dark and lost as the ones she looked into now._

"_My wife and son are not here, nor should somebody of your heritage deign to speak as if you know what they would think. This," he waved his arm around as if to encompass their surroundings, "all this is a fallacy, a façade. There is nothing here worth keeping."_

"_That isn't your decision to make. Expellia….uuurk", she choked in surprise as his wandless magic ripped her own wand from her hand, the attempt to disarm reversed spectactularly. Malfoy cackled maliciously._

"_Try anything like that again and you'll be first to go. I knew you had something about you the moment I first set eyes upon you and your little trio. He underestimated you but I will not. Not this time."_

_Hermione could feel her heart pounding and adrenaline rushing through her. She knew the man before her was crazy. The problem was that he was crazy and powerful. She started to back away, never taking her eyes from his. "Malfoy, you'll pay for this, I promise you that."_

"_Oh, my dear girl, I already have. You should know, however, that I intend to survive."_

_He lifted a pendant from underneath his shirt and began to toy with it. "Recognise this, Miss Granger?"_

"_My time turner… How?"_

"_Not quite your time turner, although the parts remain the same. I reconfigured it slightly for my own purposes." He paused again, clearly enjoying revealing his scheme. "The curious thing about time and space is, should someone mess around with it too much, the results can become a little unpredictable. In this case, it was purely by accident I stumbled across a note in a margin made by an over zealous wizard. His experiment revolved around exploring parallel dimensions but sadly for him, he ended up half in this dimension and half in the one he'd attempted to get to. Apparently the explosion ripped apart a city and sent it under the ocean."_

_Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "You mean to escape to another dimension?"_

"_Not without having a little fun first, naturally. You see, the explosion here cannot be stopped, something about leaving a black hole which implodes, but the effect on the new dimension should be negligible. I perfected the technique for portalling myself. It isn't without some risk, obviously, but I sent tiny particles sideways through time and that seemed to work, so I thought, why not?"_

"_Because its evil?" _

_Whilst Malfoy had been enjoying himself, Hermione had secretly broken the tiny vial of the remaining luck potion she'd kept since Professor Slughorn had given it to her when she had been a teenager, and it now dribbled over her tongue and down her throat. She needed a few more seconds to keep him talking, then she'd see which path to take._

"_I really do find good and evil to be such flexible concepts", Lucius grinned manically. "Now, we've spoken enough. Its time for me to embark on a little trip. Goodbye, Miss Granger."_

_Hermione didn't wait for him to finish the sentence, rushing at him with no warning and leaping towards the device at his throat. As he began to twist the dials in a way she hadn't seen before, she felt the potion she'd taken begin to have its effect. Her hand closed around his and she tugged. The last thing she saw before her eyes and ears filled with agony was the look of indignation etched on his face, which then began to distort horribly and quickly loop further and further away._

~-oOo-~_  
_

Hermione had no idea where the hell she was, with no wand, no money and no clue what dimension she was in. On reflection, she'd had better days. Bloody Malfoy. Bloody magic. She was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by apparently empty houses and shops. The only activity she noticed as the rain refused to stop drenching her vest top and jeans and the mud began seeping through her trainers, was what looked like an ostrich tethered to a post, supposedly for attaching the bridle of horses, like she'd seen in all those old Western movies. It looked at her balefully and squarked, clearly not happy to be stood in the dubious shelter offered by the leaky roof above.

The unmistakable sound of a child's laughter came from further down the street. This was followed by the splashing of several feet, which turned out to belong to three pre-teenage children. The one in front, who had a shock of spiky blonde hair held in check by a forehead protector and was wearing what looked to be an equally bright orange jumpsuit, stopped in front of her and stood with his legs planted firmly in the mud and his hands resting confidently on his hips.

"Hey lady, why are you stood in the rain in those weird clothes?"

One of his companions, a bright eyed girl with hair pinker than she'd ever seen, slapped him hard across the back of his head. "Naruto, that's no way to speak to a stranger!"

"Sakura-chan...", he moaned, "her clothes are funny and she's stood in the middle of the stree…OWWWW!" As he fell into the mud, the boy called Naruto nursed the back of his head from the second blow.

"Idiot", said the third, sauntering past with his hands in his pockets. He addressed Hermione as the pink haired girl giggled admiringly at him. He didn't seem to notice.

"We are genin of Konoha. We are on a mission here to ascertain why everyone has disappeared. Can you tell us anything?"

Hermione was taken aback. Firstly, by the authority with which the boy spoke. Secondly, because he and the other two youths had spoken in a dialect of Japanese. She took a moment to compose herself, remembering her language studies.

"I am not native to this village. I only arrived here an hour ago and I have no memory of how I got here." She decided to bluff a little. "Perhaps that has something to do with the disappearances?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and stood up, approaching her and looking closely at her face. "Sasuke-kun, something smells funny here. She has a strange accent."

Hermione noticed the other boy had armed himself with a knife and was standing guardedly. Their female companion spoke, offering Hermione a half smile.

"For once, I agree with you, Naruto. We should wait for Kakashi, but first, shall we get out of this rain?"

The three of them led her into an empty barn and opened up packages of food. Hermione's stomach rumbled loudly as she smelled the fragrant food the kids were tucking into and a smiling Naruto offered her a rice ball, which she accepted gratefully. As the children talked amongst themselves, she started to relax a little and observe their interactions. They looked an interesting bunch, all of them precocious. It made her think about her own friends and instantly she felt more maudlin. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, when Sasuke spoke to nobody in particular.

"You're late."

Hermione's brow furrowed and she looked around the barn, feeling suddenly confused. Confusion turned to alarm when a male figure appeared from nowhere two metres in front of her. She turned towards the children for explanation. It was Naruto who spoke, reporting to his "master" with enthusiasm and a grin.

"Kakashi-sensei, we found this strange lady wandering about and nobody else around except for that annoying ostritch."

"I see", the new arrival spoke.

Hermione stood up slowly, conscious that she was an unknown quantity to her new acquaintances. She bowed towards the man named Kakashi and took her time with the unfamiliar language.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hermione Granger."

There was a moment of silence as both Hermione and Kakashi appraised the other, the young woman careful to appear non threatening and respectful of the fact they were unknown quantities to one another.

The children's sensei was stood slightly slouched, yet she could see straight through that, having played her own part in the counter insurgency efforts following Voldemort's death, rounding up dangerous Death Eaters. She knew when someone was combat ready. Behind the laid back exterior she could practically smell the experience of the man, his shinobi uniform well worn and the attentiveness of his students indicating a great deal of respect for their master. Hermione noted the spiked white hair and masked face, only one quite youngish eye visible and contradicting her initial estimate of his age, which she'd put in his fifties, yet judging by the lines on his skin she revised that to be maybe thirty, no more than thirty-five. Physically, she figured he looked like the classic ninja. Aside from the armour, she could tell he was in great shape, his lower arm muscles solid and sinewy. If the rest of him was like that he'd be fast and surprisingly strong for his height, which was only slightly taller than she was.

Hermione knew that she looked a fright, her drying hair completely unforgivable and her wet clothes still stuck to her body. She defensively wrapped the blanket one of the children had offered her around her shoulders, covering her tight and completely inadequate strappy white top, which in turn covered an electric blue bra, showing very clearly through the protective layer thanks to the downpour she'd found herself in following her encounter with Lucius Malfoy. In the sunshine of the British countryside it had represented a suitable outfit, the blue of her bra straps matching her jeans, but now she felt hopelessly underdressed and not a little exposed to Kakashi's inquisitive eyes. She offered him a nervous smile.

For his part, the jounin was half analysing the young woman stood in front of him, half enjoying himself. It wasn't often that C ranked missions took an unexpected turn and when they did, it was usually something a great deal more threatening than meeting an attractive, albeit obviously foreign, stranger. He could see immediately that she wasn't shinobi. Hermione was in good shape, her stomach, visible through her top, and legs were nicely toned, but the clothing she wore, aside from being unfamiliar, was clearly unsuited for hand to hand combat. She bore no obvious scars and wore no forehead protector.

"A pleasure to meet you too, Granger-san", Kakashi replied to her politely, offering her a smile. At least, she assumed he was smiling, as she could only see his right eye. "I see you've met my team. I assume they have conducted themselves properly?" The question was partially directed at the three genin and Hermione heard Naruto mutter to himself quietly as Sakura fixed him with a pointed glare.

"They have been of great help to me, thankyou." She saw Naruto glare back at Sakura in response and Sasuke raise his eyes at the pair of them. "However, I can see that my presence here is of interest to you, so I would like to explain a little, if I can, of what I am doing here. In return, could you tell me where, in fact, here actually is?"

"The rain shows little sign of stopping and I have even less interest of dragging us all back to Konoha without completing our mission here, so I would appreciate as much information as you can give me", Kakashi said, his tone resigned as he looked outside at the weather, which, if it was possible, had gotten worse. The ostrich was making plaintive noises, which were clearly aimed at the group. Sasuke sighed.

"Please can we just kill that thing? It'd make a really delicious supper."

Sakura tittered at him. "Oh Sasuke-kun, you're so funny!"

"..and you're annoying," he replied. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. The ostrich had mysteriously gone silent and Sakura had gone a shade of pink darker than her hair.

"No, we can't just kill it, it belongs to someone. Why, I have no idea, but how would you feel if your ostrich was just cut up and eaten by a bunch of junior shinobi on a mission?"

The ostrich, reprieved, began to squark again. Hermione wondered if this was coincidental, or whether the giant bird could actually understand what they were saying about it. It brought the first smile to her face since she'd appeared here and she began her account, edited of course, of how she had arrived here.

As Kakashi sat down with his students, he noted that two of them seemed completely enthralled by Hermione. Sasuke, as always, had a distant look on his face that constantly gnawed at the senior ninja. Nothing seemed to interest the boy save perhaps bettering himself and finding new ways to express his disappointment with his teammates. That, however, was normal. Hermione Granger was definitely not in that category. When she began her explanation, his paranoid nature, fuelled by years and years of personal experience, began screaming at him that what she was saying wasn't the entire truth.

"So, to sum up, you were on a boat with some relatives of yours which was blown off course, then you encountered bad weather and had to 'abandon ship'?"

"Essentially, yes", she replied. "I know I'm a long way from home, but if you could help me find out where I am, I might be able to find my way back."

"So, why were you wandering through this village, which mysteriously all the occupants have disappeared from?"

Hermione put on a glum look and continued, deciding that the less detail she offered the better. "I really don't know. I don't have any recollection of why I'm here, my journey from my boat, or where my family is. My head…" she pointed towards the back of her skull, where conveniently she had fallen earlier that day before meeting Malfoy, "My head took a blow when I fell off the ship and my memory must be slow in returning."

Kakashi didn't look convinced, but with no evidence to suggest Hermione was at fault for the recent disappearances, had no choice but to take her word for it.

"Well, Granger-san. Where you are is one of the towns of the Land of Fire, one of the seven Kingdoms. We, as my team have already informed you, are shinobi of Konoha, a village around fifty kilometres from here. Once we have completed our mission, I will take you to meet my superiors and should they have any information as to requests for missing persons of your description, I will let you know. Do you have any means of paying for food?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm sorry, even if I did have any currency, it wouldn't be local. I can work though, if there is anyone who needs assistance and can provide me with food and accommodation." She felt on a stronger footing now the jounin had accepted her story, at least for now.

"There's always someone who needs help." Kakashi thought for a moment. "What is your expertise?"

"I'm very well educated in several schools." She thought now would be a bad time to mention they were schools of magic, "But specialise in herbology and medicines. I can also cook and am not a stranger to hard work, although possess very little in the way of practical application when it comes to building or repairing things."

He nodded acceptingly and looked outside. The rain had lightened and a bright rainbow had formed in the distance. "I think that's our sign to leave this barn. Miss, please wait here until my team and I have completed our sweep of the town. I do not wish to alarm you but this country is rife with bandits and nefarious individuals who would prey on a woman alone," he paused and winked at her, "particularly one as appealing as you."

As a snort from one of the genin sounded in the background, the three of them got to their feet and followed their sensei, who was already halfway out of the door. Shivering still, despite the blanket, Hermione pulled her knees up to her chest, having no intention of leaving the barn. This tentative alliance with the people from Konoha was a start towards finding out what to do next. Besides, she'd rather be in the presence of Kakashi and his cohorts than alone in a strange land, particularly considering she was a foreigner here. Dammit, this sucked.

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	2. Local Wildlife

"Mrrrggglllmgggrrrgl!"

"Naruto, stop fooling around, you idiot! You've been eating far too much ramen haven't you? Its making you even stupider than normal." Sakura asked, a thin frown on her lips as she watched her compatriot fiddling with a plant Hermione didn't recognise and chewing on its root whilst attempting to disclose its properties to them. She felt a bit sorry for him.

"Do they always argue like this?" she asked Kakashi, the two of them staying a few steps back from the trio, he to keep an eye on them and she preferring more adult company, although he did strike her as very quiet and introspect. That suited her for now. Questions about her wouldn't be so easy to deflect until she'd had an opportunity to consider things further and his relative silence provided that space. The jounin replied to her question in a resigned style she was becoming accustomed to.

"I'm afraid so. Their teamwork is somewhat lacking on occasion, although they have their moments." He turned to face her as they walked. "Sakura, as you've seen, has something of a crush on Sasuke, which is completely unreciprocated. Sasuke and Naruto have had their problems, for different reasons, but don't get on. You'll find out more as we arrive in the village."

A sudden squeal from Sakura heralded the appearance of the only person Hermione had seen since arriving here aside from the Konoha four. An elderly man in a traditional hat was hobbling towards them as quickly as he could.

"My goodness, Leaf ninja, please help!"

"Hey, old geezer! What's the matter?" Naruto enquired robustly, bits of plant spewing out of his mouth and leaving a purple tinge on his lips where he'd chewed through bits of flower petal.

"My village. We were attacked. A beast!" he spluttered, erupting into a coughing fit and hunching over in pain, the effort at catching them clearly affecting him.

Kakashi rested a calming hand on his shoulder. "Take your time. What beast?"

"Refugees started appearing in my village a day or so ago, telling of a giant rodent the size of a house. We laughed it off, of course, until it appeared in the distance. I ran for help, but I heard them. Screams! My village!" The panicking man tried to take a breath, taking off his spectacles and polishing them shakily. "Please help us?"

Kakashi pondered for a moment, then turned to Hermione to explain. "I'm afraid this has become a regular occurrence since the war between our Kingdoms thirteen years ago. I don't know what you have encountered in… Britain?" He stumbled over the word. "but creatures like this, some natural and broken from their slumber by fighting, some deliberately mutated for the purposes of combat and some merely undismissed summons from dead shinobi. Well, they have a habit of causing havoc and it is our job, as if we didn't have enough to do, to protect the local civilians."

"I understand", she replied. "Is there anything I can do to assist?"

Sasuke piped up. "Stay out of the way. I have enough to deal with, coping with my two colleagues and their amazing knack of finding trouble."

Hermione smiled at the grim humour but decided to heed the boy's advice, which his sensei was nodding in agreement with. "I can stay with this gentleman and see if there is anything more he can tell us about the other villages?" she offered.

"Agreed", Kakashi said. "Now we must see what we're up against. We're the only team within several miles, so backup is out of the question. We're on our own."

"Ha!" Naruto shouted. "I'm not afraid of some dirty rat. I don't care if it is the size of a house!"

A high pitched squeal came from behind the wooded hills the elderly man had hobbled over and Naruto, wide eyed, leapt forward with a whoop, jumping lithely between trees and finding firm footing on the solid, thick branches, his arms outstretched behind him and the unmistakable scent of trouble waiting to be dealt with in his nostrils.

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura cried, but he was already out of sight. With a strained sigh, she took off after him, wordlessly followed by Kakashi and Sasuke and leaving Hermione with the old man.

~-oOo-~

It transpired his name was Hachiro and now that he'd acquired help for his village, he began to calm down and tell Hermione something of where she'd found herself. He seemed eager to talk to her, particularly when she showed interest in what he was saying.

"Young people these days just want to run around doing things, instead of listening. If they'd just take some time, so much more would be achieved", he confided sagely.

Hermione smiled and bid him to continue.

"I just want to farm my land and do an honest days work, but these shinobi keep fighting and killing one another. I wouldn't care but every time I look out of the window there's a new hole in the ground the size of one of my fields."

"So what do you think of Konoha?" she asked him, figuring she'd use the time with this civilian to her benefit as well as for information about the other villages.

"Big city, lots of people. Not for the likes of me", he muttered. "Sure, they send help if things go wrong, but if it wasn't for those damn shinobi there wouldn't be any problems."

Hermione's smile didn't falter, despite the whingeing and the slightly flawed logic. She knew what it was like for those who got dragged into someone else's battles, but it was foolhardy to think that a land with no protection would prosper. There was always someone with aspirations for power. She knew that well enough.

"How do they treat foreigners?" she asked.

"Aaha", Hachiro grinned, "I could tell you weren't from around here the moment I got my breath back and my glasses stopped misting up." He took them off and polished them again, using the time to consider his answer. "Well, I can't say I ever saw anyone who looked quite like you, but there are always several weird and wonderful people of all colours, shapes and sizes traipsing up and down this road. With all the troubles we have, these ninja folk like to keep in touch now and stop any problems before they start. Don't always work though." He laughed throatily.

"For example?" Hermione prompted.

Hachiro looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Did you not hear me say there was a giant rodent?" He continued on, regardless. "Between the beasts, rogue ninja, bandits out to rob a hard working farmer of his honest coin and those darn shinobi training in the woods…." He paused for breath. "Did you know one of my cows was hit with an exploding dagger? I was picking bits of it out of the undergrowth for hours, I was!"

Hermione gritted her teeth. "So this is relevant to foreigners, how?"

"Its obvious, right? Go back home. Much safer, I'm sure."

She sighed and began to wish she'd insisted on showing more of her hand with Kakashi, rather than wasting her time with Hachiro. He wasn't about to stop, however.

"When I was a youngster, I met a lovely young girl. Now that I think about it, she looked just like you, she did."

Hermione instantly perked up. "Really?" she asked.

"Oh yes, strong legs, big hips, tall, big.. er…you know", he pointed to her chest. She raised her eyes skyward but didn't stop his story. "She had your eyes, too. I'll never forget her, took my breath away she did, she was so different."

Hermione's interest was now firmly on the answer to her next question. "What happened to her?"

"Oh, I remember everything. Chopped her head off, they did, put it on a pole outside the village hall. She was a spy, you see. Proved it, they did. She had maps and everything and she had a pointy stick which spewed fire." Hachiro beamed at her toothily. "Seemed a bit harsh, considering the things these shinobi get up to, but then one rule for one, another for the enemy, right?"

"This pointy stick?"

"Buried it with her. She didn't have a head any more, so didn't seem a problem considering nobody else could get it to breathe fire or whatnot."

"I see. That's fascinating", she told him.

"Isn't it? Buried about a mile outside Konoha she is. Kids go to her grave and scare each other with stories about her. Anyway, I shouldn't be worrying you with tales of head choppings. Different times now, lots of funny looking folk about, not just you!"

Hermione decided a change of subject was in order before Hachiro started getting suspicious about further questions on her 'lookalike'. He probably wouldn't, but she didn't trust anyone here yet and this lead sounded promising. The corpse would no doubt be beyond recognition, but magic wands, for she was hopeful the 'pointy stick' would turn out to be just that, would last for years beyond the life of their adopted owner.

Returning to questions about the huge rodent yet confident he wouldn't know much, she began her interrogation of Hachiro.

~-oOo-~

The massive rat stood on its hind legs, pawing angrily at the three genin who spun and leapt around and about its gigantic flanks, liberally throwing kunai into its flesh and allowing Kakashi to observe its movements closely, ready to step in should the creature threaten his young protégés more than it was currently managing. A small crowd of villagers gathered in a nearby field, watching the battle play out. Their initial cheers at the arrival of reinforcements from Konoha had subsided, the creature clearly too big and strong to be defeated by normal means. There was now an impasse. The rat couldn't keep up with the young ninjas, yet the damage they were causing was so small as to be insignificant. Also, Kakashi considered the village and its inhabitants too close for comfort considering the scale of damage the beast had already caused. Fortunately nobody had been killed, but several houses had been crushed and two unfortunate cattle had been devoured whole by the hungry creature. He called out to the young Uchiha.

"Sasuke, use the last of your explosive tags. They should be enough to distract it and allow us to move it away from the villagers."

The genin complied, sending three at once. The rat swiped two away, the tags exploding harmlessly in mid air, but one found its mark in the sensitive flesh between its claws. With a muffled 'crack', it left a bleeding hole in the rat's paw. Emitting a piercing squeak, it propelled itself towards Sasuke, who had already made his move back into the comparative safety of the woods. Kakashi grimaced behind his mask. The tags were of a decent strength and had barely made a mark on the beast, only serving to antagonise it. Fortunately, the target of its wrath was escaping quickly, the gifted boy almost flying through the trees with the rat giving chase, its lumbering form still being peppered from behind with kunai, neither of the other two genin following his instructions well and not getting too close for fear of taking a hit from a massive claw. Now and again Naruto would get a little annoyed and start shouting obscenities at the creature, but thankfully it appeared it was only a 'natural', yet freakishly large animal and not a summon, which would understand him and only become more aggressive, perhaps using unique powers it hadn't yet shown. Kakashi needed to think on his feet.

Hermione had finished questioning Hachiro, who essentially confirmed to her that the reason for the disappearances was due to the huge rodent currently rampaging around the countryside. He named the village she and her acquaintances had come from amongst two others further down the road away from Konoha, the rat following the scent of the refugees and their livestock from village to village. This was a relief to her, simply for the reason that it was not her who had caused people to vanish from sight. It also exonerated her from fault in the eyes of the locals, which, considering Hachiro's earlier comment about decapitation, made her feel somewhat safer. What a strange place.

"Hachiro, I think we should return to your village and see whats playing out", she told the elderly farmer, who blanched and gave her a fearful look.

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea", he responded.

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Whatever is happening, I'm sure Kakashi and his team have it under control. They seem very confident and capable."

"I'm sure they are, but that thing. It was enormous!" he replied, voice wavering.

Hermione fixed Hachiro with a stare. "If we stay here, your friends and family will think you a coward. Besides, I want to see what these young shinobi are capable of. All this talk of huge holes in the ground and exploding cattle is making me intrigued."

"Fine", he responded, still not keen. "We'll go, but on one condition. If the rat comes this way, you distract him while I run away."

She gave him a contemptuous glare. "Hide behind women a lot, do you?" Sighing at Hachiro loudly, she set off down the road to her companion's village, the older of the two hanging back and constantly looking about, as if he was about to be eaten alive.

It didn't take long to locate the shinobi squad. Hermione marvelled at the sheer size of the beast they were battling. When upright, it towered over the highest trees in the forest. As she dismissed Hachiro, who hurriedly shuffled away towards his waiting friends, she continued on towards where Kakashi was moving slowly and steadily across the fields, intending to join him to help wherever she could, from a reasonably safe distance of course. She wasn't crazy enough to attack that thing without her wand. Hermione gasped as one swipe of the rat's paw knocked a tree clean from its roots, propelling it end over end until it came to rest on the path she'd just walked down. She caught up to the shinobi captain. "That thing needs finishing quickly, otherwise your team will run out of stamina."

Kakashi had apparently noticed her come up behind him, despite having his full attention of the fight ahead. Never removing his eye from the scene, he grunted and replied. "Indeed, although they may surprise you, especially Naruto."

"Can I trust you, Kakashi-san?" she asked him. This drew a further grunt.

"That depends on you, Granger-san. With respect, I'm not the one with the flimsy story."

Hermione laughed briefly. "You don't know the half of it. However, I have no agenda here beyond finding my way home. I wasn't entirely honest when I told you of myself."

"That was obvious."

"I will discuss it further with you when we reach Konoha, but now, allow me to assist."

Intrigued, the jounin gave her an enquiring look. "So, how do you mean to do that?"

The witch simply smiled and closed her eyes, mouthing the words to the spell she thought most appropriate. Some magic didn't require a wand. Her evolved animagus form was one that fell into that category.

The villagers, thronged together for mutual comfort and safety, saw the strange looking young woman disappear and in her place, a fat looking cow popped into being. Much rubbing of eyes ensued, but this was a strange day and the bounds of credulity had already been stretched. They had more pressing things to concern themselves with, although a few parents had to attempt explanations to their children much later. None of them managed a satisfactory one. Kakashi, however, thought in a manner much more suited to the role he filled and immediately saw what Hermione was trying to achieve. Grabbing his radio, he called out to his team. "Naruto, Sakura, get his attention back here. We've laid a tasty trap for him."

A single 'Hai' came, the two genin speaking in unison as they immediately threw their own remaining explosive tags into the back of the rat, who had been pursuing an increasingly exhausted and ragged Sasuke through the forest. It squeaked angrily, the sound causing everyone to cover their ears and cringe, but the charges had the desired effect. Spinning about, the creature bounded back towards the other shinobi, who by now had just cleared Kakashi and were retreating quickly. As it attempted to catch up, it noticed something from the corner of its eye and scrabbled to a halt, kicking up several tonnes of earth in the process.

Hermione, in her best cow voice, 'Moo'ed loudly. She now had the rat's enormous eyes focused exclusively on her and her thick, juicy body. As it settled on all fours and opened its mouth to sweep her into its gaping maw, she saw a blinding flash of blue light.

"Chidori!"

Two genin leapt and grabbed her just as the massive head of the rat, or at least what was left of it, collapsed on the spot where she'd been standing with a huge 'CRUMP!'

As she returned to human form, her arms and legs splayed out and two thirteen year old ninja laid on top of her, she thought to herself, "Oh boy, this is gonna take some explaining…"

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	3. Into the Leaf village

Hermione bit her lip and smiled semi apologetically at Kakashi as Naruto and Sakura disentangled themselves from their three person heap on the floor.

"A cow, huh?" Kakashi asked, one eyebrow raised sardonically. "Next you'll tell me you can fly, or you can speak the languages of animals."

"Sadly neither, although I have…" she looked askance momentarily. "Well, _had _a friend who could speak to snakes, although his was considered a very rare ability."

"Such as being able to turn into a cow?" the jounin asked, the reference to snakes noted and filed for future reference. "That I have never seen before!"

Hermione noticed the teasing tone in his voice and thought she'd go for broke. "Where I come from, I'm considered very gifted. The cow was a spur of the moment decision. I can actually take the form of several things, be they animals or simple objects. None of them are my true animagus form and I'm very restricted whilst using them."

Kakashi nodded and she continued. "You probably noticed I wasn't capable of much movement in bovine form, nor can I form the sounds of animals, hence the very human sounding 'moo'." This brought a chorus of titters from the background.

"Kakashi-san, I will tell you everything, but please can we head into your Konoha village? These people are staring at me and I could do without the attention."

He grinned behind his mask and turned around, raising a gloved hand in farewell towards the civilians, who were eyeing up the corpse of the rat and whispering amongst each other. "Certainly, Granger-san. It seems the least I can do after you assisted us with our little infestation."

Naruto, who was jiggling around impatiently and waiting for an opportunity, spoke up. "Kakashi-sensei, I think Granger-san would be impressed by my new and improved jutsu!"

"Naruto, no!" Sakura shrieked, her eyes widening as she saw Hermione cover her mouth in astonishment. The small, spiky haired boy changing into a curvy, clearly naked woman in a theatrical puff of smoke, tendrils of which barely protected her modesty.

"Super, sexy style!" the genin crowed loudly, grabbing the attention of the villagers, who responded with a mixture of 'oooh's and disgusted snorts, quickly turning to guffaws of laughter as Sakura's fist connected hard with the side of her compatriot's head, dispelling the illusion and dumping him hard on the ground, where he whimpered and gave her a hurt look.

"Not in front of a lady, you little pervert", she chided him loudly, only serving to increase his consternation.

"Sakura-chan", he pleaded, rubbing the spot on his head where she'd connected, a large lump already forming.

"Perhaps if you two have stopped acting like clowns we could submit our report?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. "Konoha is only half a days walk away now and I would quite like to continue my training, unless of course you sorry excuses for shinobi want to embarrass yourselves further?"

Hermione caught Kakashi's eye and for the first time in a day, she managed a proper smile. Whatever this place was, it was certainly not dull.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. They shared the rest of their remaining provisions with Hermione, who was very grateful, her stomach as vociferous as Naruto's and making her very self conscious as they rumbled in unison, soliciting a friendly grin from the young genin. "Kakashi-sensei! Ichiraku Ramen is on the way home. Treat us to a bowl?"

Knowing Naruto's definition of 'a bowl' to be in fact five or six large portions of the fragrant noodle soup, Kakashi paused and offered a compromise. "Perhaps the three of you could treat our guest to whatever she wants from the menu, in return for her aid earlier? I will buy the ramen once I have submitted my report to the Hokage."

This brought the beginning of a complaint from Naruto, who was checking his purse and finding minimal coin available, but which was quickly cut off by a threatening glare from Sakura. "Of course we can, Kakashi-sensei", she replied, a beaming smile towards her master silencing the muttering coming from next to her.

As they approached the gates of the village, Hermione's heart started to beat faster. In the day or so since her arrival here, this was the first proper sign of civilisation beyond a few houses and farms. The village was surrounded by a solid, high wall constructed of stone, which was in turn peppered with watch towers. It lent Konoha a military feel she hadn't seen since school visits to Roman cities in her home country, except the walls she had seen previously were manned by tourist guides and people walking their dogs, rather than knife and bow wielding guardsmen and women. A shiver ran down her back as she passed through the thick gates, the uniformed shinobi immediately recognising Kakashi's distrinctive white hair and allowing the party through with a brief salute. She got the feeling getting out of Konoha would be as difficult as getting in, should she ever want to.

~-oOo-~

As the four of them tucked into the delicious and piping hot food served up by the genial chef and his daughter, Kakashi off with his superiors, Hermione took some time to consider the three kids.

Despite his obvious lack of manners, she found Naruto to be completely charming. Behind the clumsy and immature exterior she saw a very intense and charismatic young man with a lot of potential. She hoped he wouldn't spend too much of his time learning more 'sexy techniques', however. She had sadly taken an instant dislike to the constantly moody Sasuke, having little time for the way Sakura fawned and mooned over him. She'd noticed the admiring glances a couple of young girls had given him on the way through town and had figured he'd grow up to be a good looking man, but in her mind the 'cool kids' often turned out to be the ones with the least to say, the enigmatic becoming nothing more than the dull and miserable once you figured it out. She preferred Naruto's puppy dog enthusiasm far more. As for Sakura, she seemed typical of a girl her age. Unfavourable comparisons with Lavender Brown crossed her mind, although Hermione supposed there was still time. At least she had spirit. That much was very clear. The girl just needed a good female role model and she'd be fine. Now, Kakashi…

"You look deep in thought."

She nearly fell off her stool in surprise as the aforementioned Jounin made his appearance silently on the bench next to her, his bowl of soup half empty already despite his mask not having moved an inch.

"How? When…?" she asked.

"I've been here a minute or two", he replied with a wink. "Interesting bunch, aren't they? My first assignment as a genin team leader and its turning out to be quite eventful!"

"Oh, so you haven't spent much time with them, then?" she enquired.

"Long enough, some might say. Although I spend half the time pulling them apart. Isn't that right, Sakura?"

A muffled 'mmmmhmmmm' was her only response, the first hot food the group had had in days proving to be more gripping than whatever conversation was being offered. Kakashi leaned in closer to Hermione.

"I have already made arrangements for you to stay at a friends' for the night. However, it's still early, so if you'd like, I'll take you somewhere a little quieter and we can enjoy a glass of sake whilst you tell me more about yourself?"

The idea wasn't completely off the scale and to be honest, she could really use a drink of something strong to calm her nerves. Hermione was a very capable young woman and it was difficult to faze her considering what she'd seen in her short life, but this was all pretty difficult to take in, regardless.

"Fine", she replied. "I'll need a change of clothes and a shower first though, although like I said, I have no means of paying for clothes or accommodation."

Kakashi waved it away. "Honestly, it's a pleasure to help. If it hadn't have been for your rather interesting style of intervention, we might have struggled to take that beast down. I already made the arrangements for something for you to wear this evening and tomorrow. Sadly my budget doesn't stretch much further, however I know of a person who needs help with his flower shop and he'd be happy to reimburse you for any services offered whilst his daughter is out completing her own missions."

Hermione smiled gratefully. "Thankyou, Kakashi-san, although I insist on paying you back for the clothes."

He leaned in even closer, so his young accomplices wouldn't hear what he said next. "I'll even take off my mask, but don't tell these three, they've been itching to see what I look like under here and it's a closely guarded secret."

She raised an eyebrow in query. "Oh really?"

He winked conspiratorially in reply. "Oh yes. The irony is, on my rest day I walk around Konoha all the time with no mask on, but nobody recognises me."

Naruto finished his fifth bowl of Ramen and let out a hearty belch. "Kakashi-sensei, what are you talking to Granger-san about?" he asked, a thin veil of sweat covering his forehead and making him look like he'd been over exerting himself.

"Village business", Kakashi answered, "now its time to pay the bill, you've had quite enough of that."

A 'humph' came from the stool further down the bar, then a grinning 'Thankyou, old man', before Naruto turned to Sakura and asked to walk her home. Sadly for his romantic aspirations, his female colleague was staring hard at Sasuke whilst he finished his last sip of soup. "Sasuke will walk me home, won't you Sasuke?" she almost begged, her hands clasped under her chin and her lips parted longingly. He blanked her and hoisted his bag over one shoulder. "Heh, Naruto can walk you home, I have to catalogue my equipment before I train in the morning. Goodnight Kakashi-sensei, Granger-san."

With a small bow, he slouched off and away from the eatery, leaving behind a seething Naruto and disappointed Sakura.

"I don't know what you see in that idiot", he told her, but upon turning round saw she was already halfway off her stool and heading in the opposite direction, bidding her sensei and Hermione goodnight with a nod and a smile. Naruto leant on the bar with a sigh and a 'humph', before also sliding off his stool and rubbing his belly.

"Nice to meet you, lady", he said, bowing towards Hermione. "See you tomorrow, Kakashi-sensei". With a leap and a whoop, he made his own move, slowing down a tad once his mind caught up with his body, burdened by the amount of food he'd eaten. Rubbing the back of his head self consciously, he waved and was gone.

In the growing darkness the owner of the ramen shop sat down pointedly in front of the two of them and Kakashi suddenly realised none of the kids had paid for their food. With a sigh and a rueful smile behind his mask, he settled the bill. This had been an expensive mission so far and the evening was young.

~-oOo-~

Hermione surveyed the room she'd been shown to by Kakashi, usually occupied by his friend and colleague Gai, who was currently out of town and not expected back for another two days. It was plain, spartan even, with a single window and one entire wall dedicated to weights, another covered by a mirror which she assumed was used for training purposes. Looking in the wardrobe she found the clothes Kakashi had promised. She was pleased to note he hadn't lumped her with a traditional kimono, which she wouldn't have had a clue how to get into without some assistance, instead selecting a pair of comfortable looking black linen trousers and a tight armless cotton top with a scooped neck and built in support for her bust. Surprisingly, he'd even taken care of her underwear, choosing a pair of simple, practical, short style knickers. The outfit was completed by a matching pair of sandals and a black cloak for when the cooler evening swept in.

Thoughtfully, Kakashi had also and amongst other things, provided her with fresh soap and shampoo, which she used liberally on herself as she rid herself of the accumulated grime of the past couple of days. Gai's shower was powerful and the water, once she'd turned it from its default 'ice cold' setting, was constantly warm. This was a blessing as she'd never quite managed to shake off the shiver from her initial arrival in the empty village, although she'd never let anyone else see it. As the soothing water pelted her shoulders and ran in rivulents down her back and between her breasts, she began to think of what she'd left behind.

Since leaving Hogwarts as a seventeen year old girl, Hermione hadn't spent a great deal of time outside. Buried in her books and helping the Order track down Voldemort's cronies, she found little time for anything else other than keeping fit. Those friends she'd stayed in touch with, she'd managed mostly by means of the internet, a strained and brief relationship with Ron aside. The three of them, Hermione, Ron and Harry, had been through so much, but their friendship had been a bubble in which they'd rode everything out. Once Voldemort had been killed, there didn't seem any reason to talk any more. No more schemes to concoct or riddles to solve. That didn't mean she didn't miss them, but once their arch enemy had gone it felt like her life had stalled, waiting for her to seek another direction in which to head. She knew Ron still pined after her, but Harry had gone to do his own thing and once he and Ginny had separated off from herself and Ron, the differences between the very young couple started to take their toll.

Working her fingers through her hair and trying to remove bits of mud from it, she wondered if any of them were alive considering the imminent cataclysm described by Malfoy. She knew she'd been the one to travel here instead of him, but had her interruption stopped anything from happening where she'd come from? She was nowhere near to finding out, only an old man's tale of a long dead witch to consider. In any case, now wasn't the right time to begin worrying. She'd had a difficult and long day or two and she fully intended to let her hair down. Well, she would if she could actually get a brush through it before Kakashi turned up again.

In the event, she managed to finish getting ready and took one last look at herself in Gai's large mirror before heading outside to meet the shinobi captain again. She'd looked a lot worse actually, now she thought about it. The day in the sun had given her skin some colour and made her hair look a fraction lighter. Normally a nutty sort of brown, it was now almost bordering on blonde. She'd stand out. Certainly compared to most of the locals, her recent acquaintances aside. She giggled to herself. They were were most definitely the exception to the rule.

The clothing Kakashi had left in Gai's wardrobe fit her perfectly. Her vest top fit nicely across her chest and she didn't feel like she was either going to spill out, or leave a gaping hole for anyone to look down whenever she bent over. The soft trousers were snug yet not tight around her waist, leaving a pleasing silhouette of her toned legs when she looked in the mirror with the light behind her. Even the sandals were her size. She had to give the guy credit for a keen eye, although she was a little perturbed that he'd had his eye on her enough to gain such an understanding of her figure, particularly considering it was a different shape to the common woman here, most of whom seemed more diminutive and petite in stature.

With a slight skip in her step, she wrapped the new cloak around her shoulders and trotted downstairs, feeling like for once, she actually had something to look forward to. Kakashi was waiting for her, at least she assumed it was him, his hair gelled into a new style and without a mask for the first time in her experience.

"Shall we?" he asked.

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	4. Stumbling around Konoha

As Kakashi flashed her a charming smile, Hermione was pleasantly surprised to see that there wasn't any physical reason why the jounin wore his mask. Half expecting some terrible scarring, or perhaps even an equally terribly manicured moustache, she instead found herself casting her eyes over a strong, chiselled face, coated with a days worth of fine, silver stubble. The change was completed by a pair of slightly darkened glasses, which she found a little odd considering the time of day it was. He bowed to her.

"I see the clothes I selected fit you quite well", he observed. "Was everything to your liking?"

Hermione nodded, then narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "So, how did you manage to pick things out in my exact shape?"

The question brought a wry half smile from her escort for the evening. "Lets just say I have a talented eye." Tilting his glasses down, he winked at her with his usually covered left one. She stifled a gasp, but Kakashi's smile widened at her gape. "You look far more attractive without your tonsils showing, you know."

This brought a glare of retribution from Hermione, who felt a sudden urge to hit him. "I assume you're going to enlighten me about that eye of yours if I tell you about myself, right?" she asked.

"All in good time", he replied. "First, I need a drink."

Kakashi was right, people really didn't recognise him without his mask on. She found that hard to believe considering how different he looked to everyone else with his white hair, but as they walked to the bar he liked, she noticed the denizens of Konoha tended to keep to themselves after dark, the village taking on a rather threatening vibe. She put that down to the high walls and feeling of enclosure, the streets built narrowly out of requirement to fit inside the protective circle. The few people they did come across had their heads tucked into their chests and walked hurriedly, not making eye contact with the tall pair as they made their way across town. That fit, considering everything she'd seen and heard of this dimension so far. Civilians went to a lot of trouble for a quiet life, but by the sound of things got drawn into a shinobi fuelled conflict more often than not. Again she thought of her own history, likening the place to medieval England, with its Feudal Lords, Knights and bowmen. Fortunately the amenities were better here, as her wonderful twenty minutes spent under Gai's shower testified. As they reached the bar, Kakashi opened the door for her and they walked in, he getting the attention of the owner, who greeted his regular customer warmly.

"A bottle of sake, Hiroshi", he asked jovially.

"And for the lady?" the bartender asked, an inscrutable look crossing his features as he took in the new arrival.

Hermione blushed and Kakashi replied for her. "We're both drinking tonight, Hiroshi. Two glasses and the bottle will be fine."

Said alcohol arrived quickly and they were shown to Kakashi's usual booth, which was tucked away from the rest of the patrons, of which there were few. As they sat down on the benches opposite each other across the thick wooden table, Kakashi poured her a glass and slid it over to her. He opened conversation.

"Hiroshi is a very curious barkeep, gossips too much, but this is one of the few places in town I can go where the usual shinobi crowd don't hang out." Hermione raised an eyebrow but prompted him to continue.

"Don't get me wrong, I have several good relationships amongst them, but sometimes I need silence and solace. Besides…" he winked at her again. "It's a good place to bring a lovely young lady such as yourself without having an oaf like Asuma interrupt me with his complaints about _his _new team of genin."

"Asuma?" she prompted, shaking her head and pursing her lips at the compliment.

"A fellow jounin. Big guy, smokes a lot and spends half his time with his eye on one of my other colleagues, Kurenei."

Kakashi's face lit up as he spoke of his comrade with warmth and affection and it was the first time Hermione had seen him smile with more than his mouth.

"So", she enquired, also smiling, her companion's good humour proving infectious. "Is there a Mrs Kakashi?"

The sudden darkening of his face surprised her, although it was replaced almost immediately with a reassuring, yet not completely believable grin. "No, there isn't. My relationships with women, everybody for that matter, tend to be… fleeting." He chose the last word carefully and gave Hermione a meaningful look. She decided to probe a little further and laid some bait.

"I guess when you're out of town so much, its easier just to have casual things."

This elicited a response she hadn't expected. Kakashi sat back against the wall of the booth and folded his arms, his posture becoming very guarded. "Not what I meant", he responded, almost forcing the words out. The sudden change in him shocked Hermione, the light teasing she had planned on subjecting Kakashi to, clearly striking a nerve.

"I'm sorry", she said, pushing her hands forward, palm down on the table in a gesture of placation. "I didn't mean to cause you offence."

Kakashi's eyes were focused firmly on the wood of the table in front of him and he reached for his glass, slugging his drink down in one and signalling she should do the same. Seemingly not having much of a choice, Hermione chugged down the coarse alcohol, the taste sticking in her nose and making her force her body not to retch it back up. It was a far cry from her usual choice of beverage, which was normally nothing stronger than a glass of wine with her evening meal. As the last drops found their way down her throat, she tapped her glass twice on the table. "More", she ordered her companion, who obliged her, giving them both a good measure.

As the contents of the second glass went the same way as the first, Hermione broke the uncomfortable silence. "I've lost people too. Close friends. I don't profess to know what you've been through, but I do know loss."

As she left the subject hanging in the air, her companion replied after a brief moment of consideration. "I was supposed to be the one asking all the questions, too."

She offered him a kind smile and saw his face soften in return. "So, ask."

With alcohol lubricating conversation, both of them began to relax and the evening flowed much better than its hesitant beginnings. Kakashi listened in wonderment at her tales of Hogwarts, barely speaking as she told him of her journey through childhood and then frowning and nodding in understanding as she described the darker days of her late teens, both of them being forced to grow up far too quickly in a very hostile and dangerous environment. That wasn't the only thing they shared, of course.

"So, this magic", he pressed, eager to learn more and keeping the focus on her. "You say you need a device to make it work? That's very unlike chakra."

She considered her reply. "Well, my knowledge of chakra is based solely on what I've seen, which consists of you punching a hole in a rats head with what looked like a compressed lightning bolt." She saw him grin as he remembered the fight and narrowed her eyes, figuring he was thinking about her cow form. "Magic is different. Some people, very few in fact, where I come from are born with it, but it takes a wand, the device you mentioned, to channel the magical energy and provide effective results, which we call 'spells'."

"You don't have a wand any more?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head. "I lost it when I arrived here, although Hachiro, the old farmer we met earlier, told me a very interesting story about a woman not unlike myself."

"I know of whom you speak", Kakashi revealed. "I met with the Hokage whilst you and my team were stuffing your faces with ramen and he showed me a scroll or two."

Hermione felt her heart begin to rush and a cold shiver rush over her arms and back. "This woman… She was executed. Why?"

Nothing for you to worry unduly about", he reassured her. "I have it on good authority that she was acting for another village against ours. The village of the Leaf is still a young concept in the grand scheme and as a result, the lands around us are very volatile and full of people with different ideas about how things should be run. Her… magic… was less important than what she was doing with it at the time."

Hermione nodded, his logic sound. "Hachiro mentioned that she was buried outside the village walls?"

He met her question with one of his own. "Planning on having a little midnight jaunt, are you?"

"The idea had crossed my mind", she answered honestly, a warm feeling in her chest as the drink began to take more of an effect and her inhibitions began to melt away. Kakashi laughed throatily at her mischievous look and Hermione flushed, unable to meet his accusatory eyes and very conscious that she was enjoying the way the laugh made her feel. She chided herself forcefully. She barely knew this man. Damn alcohol. The jounin saw her discomfort and put her out of her misery. "Well, sadly for your nefarious scheme, the Hokage has already sent a pair of my colleagues to exhume the body and anything buried with it, so if you want to get your hands on this magic device of hers, you'll be needing a chat with my superior."

"Shame", she sighed. "I suppose that means I'll just have to sit here with you and get drunk, then."

"A worthwhile plan", Kakashi beamed, filling her glass again.

The alcohol was definitely becoming more palatable. Either that or her body had given up arguing the contrary. It was certainly making the time pass, regardless. The pair of them had descended into fits of giggles at the owner, Hiroshi's, attempts to listen in on their conversations and were now giving him surreptitious glares every time he turned his back, the poor man muttering as he cleaned around them, their table becoming sticky from the occasional spilt drink. Kakashi, who had developed hiccups, decided to start on a new topic. "Sho…Hic", he started, closing his eyes with a frown, which he then converted into an attempt at a charming smile. "So, Granger-san", he collected his thoughts. "Is..hic..Is there a Mrs Granger-san?"

Hermione couldn't help but grin stupidly, the accomplished shinobi captain reduced to slurring and her own head struggling to form a coherent response. "No, no Mrs Granger-san, nor a Mr Granger either. Please, Kakashi, could you call me Hermione?"

"Mynee", he replied, his brow furrowed. "Hermynee!" This attempt seemed to satisfy Kakashi, who then stood unsteadily and sloped off to the bathroom, giving a thumbs up to Hiroshi on the way past. The owner frowned at him and looked pointedly at Hermione, who gave him a sweet smile in return.

The two of them finally took the hint and stumbled out of the bar. Hermione wasn't sure who was leaning more on whom, but she felt a lovely warm glow running through her body, mixed with a sudden desire for food. "Ramen!" she shouted to nobody in particular. "I need ramen!"

Kakashi hiccoughed. "No ramen open. Check Gai's fridge."

"Fine", she accepted. "But there'd better not be any weird green things in there too."

This brought a snicker from her partner in crime, who was sobering slightly in the cool night air. "He always keeps a few things in there for when he comes back from missions. That is one hungry guy. I mean Gai!"

The lame joke nevertheless brought the pair of them to their knees in drunken laughter and was retold several times on the short, but yet quite long under current circumstances, walk back to Gai's apartment. An apartment which had slightly more Gai than they were expecting.

"Kakashi-senpai!" a loud voice boomed at them from the doorway. "Its nearly three in the morning. What are you doing here?"

Hermione and Kakashi looked at eachother and burst out laughing. She gave Gai her best 'pleased to meet you' face. "You must be Gai. I'm Hermynee!" He didn't look impressed and gave Kakashi a withering look. His compatriot rested a hand on his shoulder and sighed, the smell of drink on his breath forcing the sober man back on his heels.

"Gai", Kakashi said, taking a couple of seconds to adjust to this surprising chain of events. "Gai, you're back!"

"Observant as usual, my rival, although I think if we had a competition right now, the only thing you'd win would be a race to see who was drunk first. Can I help you or may I go back to bed?" The question was laced with slight annoyance but obvious affection, the man in the green pyjamas and matching nightcap obviously eager to resume his sleep. Kakashi sighed again.

"No, we have taken up too …hic… too much of your time. Thankyou Gai, we shall be going."

"Well, goodnight and see you tomorrow", he bade them, closing the door and marching up the stairs two at a time, suppressing a frown as he was sure he heard a whispered comment about his eyebrows.

"Well this leaves us in a predicament", Hermione told Kakashi.

"Whaddya mean?" he asked, then comprehension slowly crossed his features. "Oh, right. Well, you can always stay at mine." He tried what she assumed to be a sly wink, but ended up blinking instead as a stray hiccup came up.

Hermione wasn't keen on the idea, but at this time of night it was either stay with Kakashi or sleep on the street. The latter wasn't an option. "Fine", she told him. "But any funny business from you and I'll turn into something much more threatening than a cow."

"Understood", he nodded with a thumbs up for good measure.

Kakashi's apartment wasn't completely unlike Gai's. The main difference was the paperwork piled high everywhere and the shinobi uniform cast carelessly on the floor, not to mention the large selection of books, the covers of which left little to the imagination as to the contents inside. There was a decent size and comfortable looking futon style bed in one corner, which Hermione assumed they'd have to share in the absence of alternatives. She heard him rooting through his kitchen for anything to eat and followed him in.

"Are you sure this wasn't some elaborate ruse to get me into bed with you?" she asked him, half joking but with a hint of seriousness, finding the idea of being in the room of a man she'd only known a day or so a little intimidating.

"Of course not. Gai is home early and I'm not that sort of man, despite what my genin think", he answered, faking a hurt look. "Honestly", he promised, holding his hands up in a gesture of pacification.

"Okay, I trust you", she told him, sitting down at his kitchen table.

The annoying thing was, she hadn't had sex with anyone for a very long time, not since an unfortunate one night thing after she'd broken up with Ron two years before. As Kakashi munched his way through half the contents of the pantry and belatedly offered her some, she couldn't help but appraise him in a way she hadn't looked at a man in ages. She smiled to herself, the guy was clearly too drunk to do anything in any case, but that didn't hide his clearly athletic frame and, to her at least, exotic handsomeness. As she drunkenly daydreamed about how his hands would feel on her skin, she rested her head on her hands and closed her eyes, suddenly very tired.

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	5. The Hangover and the Hokage

Firstly, thanks to those people who reviewed, followed or favourited this story so far since I posted the first four chapters on Saturday. Its my first story in the public domain and its a real confidence booster seeing people enjoying it.

Also a quick shout out to my good friend/beta Auelle who has given me the motivation and inspiration to write this, as well as providing great company while I sat through hundreds of Naruto episodes over the last few months. I've been warned by her not to be too horrible to Hermione in this story, otherwise she won't speak to me.

My intention is to update three times a week, so hopefully there will be a new update on Wednesday.

Anyway, happy reading :)

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The rap on the window woke Hermione with a start. Her bloodshot eyes popped open and she lifted her head from the prone position, instantly regretting the quick motion as waves of dull, self inflicted pain hit her. Stifling a moan, she took a few seconds to remember where she was. Her moan was then forthcoming, soon turning into a groan as she realised she lay next to a snoring Kakashi in his bed, the jounin not wearing anything that she could see, laying on his back with the sheets half off him and a line of drool running down one cheek. Pursing her lips, she sat up gingerly and rubbed her eyes, trying to remember the events of the previous evening.

Hermione recalled the sake, that was for sure, but beyond that it was more hazy. Something about eyebrows, packets of food and then, what? She shook her head, trying to bring clarity to her thoughts. The motion only served to cause more pain and she sighed in annoyance, glaring at the sleeping man beside her. After a moments guilty thought, curiosity got the better of her conscience and she lifted up the sheets and took a peek to see whether her drinking partner was wearing any more under his waist than on top of it. With a snort of relief, mixed with a tinge of disappointment, Hermione noted he was wearing a pair of comfortable looking cotton pyjama bottoms. As her gaze moved back upward and lingered for a captivating second on Kakashi's defined torso, Hermione's brain started to click into gear and pointed out that she wasn't wearing any trousers. This prompted another sigh and she brought her knees up to her chest protectively, looking around for the missing garment, which for some bizarre reason she located directly above her, spinning round on the ceiling fan, one of the legs wrapped neatly around a wooden blade and the other being propelled about with an audible 'swoosh'.

Kakashi showed no signs of life, so Hermione decided to retrieve the new trousers herself, standing on the comfortable mattress and reaching up with a stretch to pull the flailing leg away from the fan, which she managed after a couple of attempts. Unfortunately for her, the sleeping man, disturbed by the jiggling, rolled over and wrapped his arms around Hermione's ankles, resting his stubbly cheek against her calf.

"Mynee", he muttered softly, enjoying the warmth of her skin against his face.

Hermione was trapped and in danger of overbalancing, clutching the trousers to her chest and feeling very exposed, clad only in her vest top and knickers. She silently willed Kakashi to let go, shaking the leg next to his face as much as possible and attempting to dislodge him. She didn't notice the door open.

The sight which greeted Asuma left him agape, the unlit cigarette he was holding in his mouth not quite glued to his bottom lip and threatening to drop on the floor. It was swiftly removed and secreted behind an ear as the solidly built man took in the unexpected scene in front of him with a spreading grin. He composed himself and greeted Hermione. "You must be the young lady everyone is talking about."

"Does nobody here knock?" she asked, her desire to cover herself up overcome by her sense of impotent indignation.

Asuma met her eyes, being careful not to look too much at her naked legs. "Apologies, Miss, but my esteemed colleague down at your feet doesn't normally have any company here and I was told you'd be spending the night elsewhere. Besides, he's late. Again."

Hermione huffed, then sighed, then noticed Kakashi had stopped snoring and was looking upwards. In fact, looking directly at the curves of her bottom, which were defined nicely by her underwear. "Are you going to just stare at my ass, or are you going to let my legs go, you bloody perv?" She demanded. It sounded harsher than she meant it to be, the mortifying situation only serving to exacerbate and giving her voice a strangled and aggressive tone.

Kakashi winced and unwrapped his arms from her ankles, sitting up and ruefully running his hands through his hair. "Late? For what?" he asked Asuma.

The bigger man, with his massive grin refusing to budge despite Hermione's discomfort, answered. "To introduce this charming young lady to the Hokage, of course."

"The Hokage? Oh God. Bloody Hell", Hermione cursed, her normally unflappable exterior ruffled beyond reason and the hangover really not helping. She crumpled into a heap and began untying the knot which was her trousers. "I'm no condition to meet the Hokage. Look at my hair, for goodness sake!"

Asuma and Kakashi shared a glance and the new arrival decided it would be prudent to make his excuses. "Good to meet you, Miss. I look forward to being introduced properly once Kakashi regains his senses." With a nod and a knowing smile towards his counterpart, he closed the door behind himself.

As the two of them heard his mirth exploding behind the thin door and down the corridor, Hermione sat on the edge of the bed with her back to Kakashi and fought to quell her embarrassment. "So, do you remember anything about last night? Did we…?" she asked him. After a few seconds of silence when she assumed he was wondering the same, he rested a hand on her shoulder in an attempt at reassurance. The feeling of his skin on hers did little to help, raising goosebumps and a mixture of conflicting feelings.

"I'm afraid your attempts at seducing me consisted of falling asleep at my table, then collapsing off the chair a couple of hours later", he joked. "I carried you to bed, although I have no idea when you started undressing. You were fully clothed the last time I checked."

Hermione turned and raised an eyebrow. "The last time you checked? Been checking a lot, have you?"

This raised a flirtatious smile. "Can't blame a guy for looking. You're hardly a wart ridden hag. Besides, I'm not the one who took my trousers off." The hand on her shoulder squeezed gently, bringing further goosebumps and a shiver. Damn.

"I get hot in bed and strip off when I drink, don't get your hopes up", she mocked him, unable to keep the flirty tone out of her voice despite herself. Time to bring a stop to this, whatever it was, before she started enjoying herself too much.

Hermione still didn't know the guy very well and her practical side was screaming at her about the impending meeting with the Hokage, wondering if she could glean anything from it. As she stood, Kakashi's hand brushed the skin of her back gently as it fell and caused her to grit her teeth. As she looked at herself in the mirror, the full horror of her reflection staring back made her sigh for the umpteenth time. Bloody Hell, she had to go out like this?

~-oOo-~

As it was, she'd managed to get most of the food out of her hair and look borderline presentable in the five minutes she and Kakashi had taken to exit his apartment and head to the office of the Hokage. Upon their arrival the elderly man was concluding a conversation with two shinobi jounin, giving them clipped and efficient orders about the missions they and their team would undertake. Hermione recognised Asuma from earlier, the man winking at her and causing her to blush, the attractive female ninja beside him noting the gesture and giving the new arrival a thoughtful look, no doubt to be queried with her comrade later.

"Asuma, Kurenei. That concludes business here", the Hokage stated, the silent implication that they would leave, understood.

The two jounin nodded a 'Hai' in respect and marched briskly outside to commence whatever task they had been discussing. Hermione suddenly felt very nervous in the presence of obvious authority, forcing herself to be resolute and to look calmer than she felt.

"So, Kakashi", the elderly man started, his face unreadable to Hermione as he addressed the white haired man stood slouched next to her. "Would you care to explain to me why you and our guest look like you've been pulled backwards through a bush?"

The question, asked partly in jest, was designed to put Hermione at ease. As the corners of the Hokage's mouth twisted upward slightly, Kakashi fidgeted with the collar of his tunic and attempted an equally jovial reply. "Well, Hokage-san, I always try to make an entrance, as you know. Hermione clearly takes after me in that respect."

Leaning back in his chair, the Hokage steepled his fingers underneath his chin and appraised Hermione's face thoroughly, moving to business quickly. "Yes, you do remind me of her", he told her. "Your features and your physique. The similarities end there, if my dishevelled subordinate here is to be believed."

Hermione gave Kakashi a querying look, which was replaced by one of comprehension when she realised who the Hokage was referring to. Inclining her head slightly, she spoke. "Kakashi-san told me the witch buried years ago, the one you apparently exhumed, was working for another village and was executed for spying?"

"Quite right", he replied. "Although that isn't the whole story." He took a deep breath and continued, taking his time to piece his memories together. "It must be forty years ago now. Our own counter espionage unit discovered a pair of shinobi from another village, the Sand if I recall correctly, in the forests outside Konoha. They were dead and had suffered terrible wounds from a source nobody could work out. There were no residual chakra traces and the way they had been sliced apart couldn't have come from any conventional weapon crafted by a smith. To a man, we were perplexed."

Hermione nodded and the Hokage carried on.

"Around two weeks later a patrol located her. She and one other person, the remaining Sand Ninja from his team, had been awaiting contact from a traitor within our ranks. This… witch… as you called her, commenced battle with our patrol, who finally took her down after several minutes, losing two of their number to the same grievous wounds in the process. The last chunnin managed to knock her unconscious, but not before being subjected to horrific burns from her device."

Hermione interjected. "The device you mention is called a wand. I already briefed Kakashi-san on the purposes of wielding it."

The Hokage nodded. "Kakashi has already told me of this."

The jounin spoke up. "Hokage-san, when we spoke last night, you mentioned the body of this witch was being exhumed immediately. Has that taken place?"

"All in good time", his superior responded. "I haven't finished enlightening Miss Granger here."

Hermione smiled at the correct use of her name, then frowned. "How would you know to address me like that? You have no point of reference."

The Hokage beamed at her. "I thought as much. You really are from the same place. It transpired that the witch in question, upon interrogation by ANBU under the control of the second Hokage, refused to cooperate unless she was spoken to as a 'Westerner' and not addressed with the local honorific."

"So why was she working with the other village? Did you find out?" Hermione asked.

"I'm afraid not. Somehow she was able to resist our most invasive mental probing."

Hermione stroked her chin thoughtfully. "She must have been a skilled occlumens, to protect herself from such techniques."

"Occlumens?" Kakashi asked.

She began to explain. "Occlumency is a technique used by wizards and witches to prevent those using leglimency, or mind reading if you like, from entering their mind. It effectively erects a shield in front of a person's mind. A skilled occlumens can show an interrogator only what they want them to see and no more."

The Hokage leant forward. "That would explain how she resisted, but she was also very tenacious against more physical methods of extracting information."

Hermione was no stranger to tales of torture. The unpalatable facts of Severus Snape's tenure as Headmaster of Hogwarts had become widespread knowledge in the wizarding community. Her former Potions professor had been exonerated after Voldemort's death, but he had been forced to inflict terrible pain on some of his students in his guise as right hand to the self styled Dark Lord. She remembered her own training. "I'm afraid that physical torture methods wouldn't have been any more effective. Any of my old school friends would be able to block out the majority of physical pain inflicted on them, assuming they remembered their studies, of course."

The Hokage grunted. "This is all well and good, but it doesn't help with finding out who she was or how she got here."

"The most important thing is that Hermione is here now, she's been of great assistance to me already and I would hope that she be welcomed into Konoha properly", Kakashi argued, his tone suddenly passionate and in stark contrast to his slouched appearance. The Hokage merely nodded.

"Hermione, you will be welcome here as long as you don't cause me any unnecessary headaches. I'm sure Kakashi-san has pointed out our shortage of useful workers. Sadly most of the kids nowadays want to be shinobi, which doesn't leave many to do the more mundane things."

"I've already been conscripted into looking after a flower shop, although I have yet to see where I'll be working", she replied, giving Kakashi a sideways glace in silent query at his assertive defence of her position.

The jounin just winked at her. "I'll be taking her as soon as we've finished here and treated her to a bite to eat", he told the Hokage.

"Well then, our business here is concluded, for now", the elderly man informed them both. "Although I will no doubt be speaking to you more, Miss Granger, in the next few weeks." He hummed to himself, clearly trying to remember something else. "Ah yes, one more thing. Perhaps you could take a look at this?"

Hermione was taken aback by the show of faith from the Hokage as he held out what was very clearly a magic wand, the years in a casket underground causing the wood, which she figured to be elm, to feel light and brittle, yet still functional. As she held it out in front of her, she felt it to be nicely balanced and not at all unlike her own, missing wand. It also fit, somehow, to have an unfamiliar wand in an unfamiliar place and suddenly Hermione felt much more comfortable. She couldn't help noticing the atmosphere in the room had become slightly guarded, however, both Kakashi and the Hokage alert just in case she did anything unpredictable.

"Nothing to worry about", she told them. "There's no danger unless you give a wand to an untrained magic user." Or her ex boyfriend Ron, of course, but he was a special case.

She looked around the Hokage's office and settled upon a heavy looking paperweight. Raising her eyebrows towards him, the old man smiled at her. "Go ahead. Show us what you can do."

Focusing and choosing to trust the new wand, or new to her at least, she pointed it towards the glass object and uttered a quiet, 'Reducio'.

The simple spell had the desired effect, the paperweight reducing in size with a 'pop' and a small puff of smoke. As the two men breathed out in relief, which she could forgive them for as she'd been secretly worried about inadvertently setting fire to the Hokage's eyebrows, she laid the wand back down on the desk in front of her.

"The smoke you saw isn't for theatre, its because this wand isn't mine", she clarified. "Every witch or wizard can use most wands, but each wand is as different as the magic users themselves."

"I understand", the Hokage said. "Chakra is unique to each person here, too. Each shinobi has an affiliation to one element in particular, although some, with training, can master the use of techniques relating to more than one. I heard you saw Kakashi-san use his Chidori lightning attack. I must continue with my work after this very enlightening meeting, but perhaps he can tell you more about the subject over breakfast? I'm sure you'd find it fascinating."

With that the Hokage bent over his desk and started filing through his paperwork, giving the witch and the jounin their leave to go. As they were walking out the door, Hermione felt something fly past her ear. As Kakashi caught the wand thrown by his superior, they heard one last thing. "You'll be needing this more than me. I don't fancy using it as a back scratcher."

As the two of them left the building and walked outside into the sunshine, she heard her stomach rumbling. "I'm hungry", she told Kakashi. "You mentioned paying for breakfast?"

"It's a date", the jounin agreed.

Hermione stopped in the street and glared at him. "You'll be lucky", she stated.

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	6. Ass? Kicking!

Apologies that this took so long to upload. Various issues have prevented me from writing, so there has been a related delay. I blame my beta, Auelle, although she may have something to say about it xD

Enjoy!

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Four weeks had passed since Hermione had arrived in Konoha. Aside from the furore surrounding the initial few days after her appearance, during which she had become quite a celebrity in the close knit shinobi village, the days had become quieter and she had begun to find her own routine. The Hokage had found her accommodation close to the centre of town, presumably to keep an eye on her. It was a spacious second floor apartment overlooking a small communal garden, the feature of which was a gnarled peach tree Hermione had taken to sitting under and reading one of her rapidly growing collection of books when it was sunny. Her only regular visitor was a small bird who seemed to follow her everywhere and was currently perched fearlessly on the edge of her bench, tapping out an irregular beat with his beak. Whilst she watched him bobbing up and down, the bright blue plumage atop his head waving comically, she smiled and offered him her upturned palm. Cocking his head at her quizzically, the bird flapped his wings clumsily and hopped onto her outstretched hand.

"Looks like you've made another friend."

Trying not to jump out of her skin, Hermione breathed deeply and kept her eyes firmly on her hand, the bird now jumping about skittishly at the sudden interruption.

"I thought I told you it isn't good manners to sneak up on a person", she answered to the man stood on a branch of the tree directly behind her right shoulder.

She couldn't see the twinkle in the eye of her new companion. "Force of habit, I'm afraid."

"How long have you been there?" she asked him, the anxiety on her face fading and being replaced by a look of mock anger as she turned to face the immaculately balanced Kakashi. He beamed at her through his mask.

"Oh, about five minutes. You do have such a lovely reading spot here, it'd be a shame to sit alone."

Hermione took in the erotic novel in his hand and sighed. "I'm not sure I approve of the subject matter of your book, however". She raised her own reading material in comparison, a copy of a monthly journal written by one of the local botanists. "If you want to share my bench, I'd rather you weren't thinking about, well, _that_."

Kakashi stepped lightly off the branch, closing his book and pocketing it in his satchel, the slightly barbed comment about his reading taste bringing him swiftly to the subject of his visit. "I'm afraid my business here, much as I'd like it to be, isn't a social call."

She looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to continue.

"Oh, its nothing too terrifying. Well, unless you consider spending an inordinate amount of time with me to be terrifying, of course!"

Hermione's ears pricked up at the idea. She'd not seen Kakashi for two weeks whilst he'd taken Naruto et al on various missions and, much as she hated to admit it, really enjoyed the jounin's company. "So, what secret mission would you have me partake in?" she asked him, her demeanour much more positive in spite of her sarcasm.

Kakashi looked about the square for a moment and, satisfied, took off his mask, scratching a couple of days worth of stubble as he sat down on her bench and crossed his legs beneath him. "The Hokage has asked me, now that you've settled in to village life, to explore your talents more thoroughly. He has come to the conclusion that your….gifts….may be well suited towards combat."

Hermione pursed her lips. "I had a feeling this was coming, although my magic is useful for far more than just shooting fire at people."

"I can see that", he answered. "However, we are a shinobi village and our duty as such is to offer our protection to the local populace, in return for remuneration. Your talents would be well rewarded. Besides, it isn't just your fighting skills he's interested in."

Hermione noted his gaze toward her now rather crumpled papers, which she'd involuntarily scrunched after being surprised. "I would like to get out of the flower shop and have a look around, I have to say."

"Books are one thing, but practical application is quite another", Kakashi responded with a wink.

Hermione couldn't help but wonder if he was talking about plants, or whether he was insinuating toward the connection between his own raunchy book and the suggestion of 'practical' application. She blushed furiously and huffed at him, fighting the urge to flirt in consideration of what he was asking. It didn't help that he was smiling so engagingly and she couldn't help but look at the floor, her cheeks burning up and the redness spreading down her throat and over her chest. Composing herself, she replied. "Fine, but we do this on my terms. I'm not going to be beholden to the village. This is strictly freelance."

"Are you bringing your pet with you, as well?" he asked her, his grin broadening as he pointed out her avian friend, who had made his way onto her shoulder without her noticing and had begun to chirp cheerfully. She couldn't help but giggle girlishly, meeting Kakashi's eyes in shared mirth.

"He does follow me everywhere", she admitted. "Perhaps he wants to be my familiar."

"Your what?" he asked her.

Hermione took a moment to think of the best translation. "I guess you could say that where I come from, a witch such as myself will have an animal companion who is tuned into her magic and who is always by her side. I had a cat, Crookshanks, but now I'm here its as if I've been freed up to be 'accepted' by some other creature."

The little bird nuzzled against her neck and nipped her skin gently in response, soliciting a yelp from Hermione.

"If you aren't careful he'll make a nest in that thick hair of yours", Kakashi joked as she carefully cupped her hands around the diminutive wings of her assailant, lifting him into her lap, which was protected by a thick apron she used when chopping up plants for use in the various concoctions she'd begun to make.

Mock seriousness crossed Hermione's face. "Maybe I could use his claws as a comb?"

This did not seem to please the bird, who promptly flew up to one of the tree branches and proceeded to chirp out a loud and aggressive melody in response, as if chastising Hermione. As the two of them watched him, enthralled, he stopped and gave them what could easily have been interpreted as a baleful stare.

As it was, Kakashi's idea of exploring her talents consisted of him relaxing on a blanket in an enclosed glade whilst she practised spells with her new wand. She got the feeling he was more interested in the motion of her body than her actual magic, although she was beginning to learn that not everything about Kakashi was as it seemed to be. Their conversations about his past, broached quickly and often by the inquisitive witch, had always ended swiftly, the jounin keen to change the subject back to Hermione whenever possible. The initial frustration at that had dissipated quickly enough and Hermione found that she enjoyed reminiscing with him. He was a good listener and whenever she rambled on about one thing for too long, as she was wont to do when she became focused on something, he frequently asked the right questions and pointed her in a more relevant direction. She found that it helped her to stop missing her wizarding friends so much when she could talk about them with such a good listener.

Now, however, he was just blatantly staring at her ass as she stood with her legs slightly parted in a duelling stance, flicking her wand accurately at a nearby tree and leaving scorch marks in the wood. She would really rather he didn't do that, or at least a part of her thought so. Her naughty side played on the sexual attention, entertaining his eyes with exaggerated movements of her hips. She couldn't exactly blame him for looking either. Her diet had improved immeasurably and the lack of anything much to do in her spare time had caused her to exercise a great deal. In just over a month she'd lost several pounds of fat from her stomach, chest and thighs and put it back on in muscle mass. She was beginning to resemble a shinobi more and more, even in terms of the clothes she selected. The tight, figure hugging, short sleeved white tunic which just covered her bottom, together with the matching lycra shorts cut just below the knee reminded her of the photos of her mother when she was in her heyday as an accomplished amateur tennis player. She'd also noticed when she'd walked around town that although she was still taller, broader and fuller in the breast and hip than the local women, that she no longer felt so out of place. All this in a month. There was also something in the atmosphere here which made life feel so vital, at least compared to England, which had felt dark, grey and oppressive, the events of her teenage years a blight on the country, which had cried tears of rain ever since. Nothing new there, of course. She guessed it had something to do with the way the ninja of Konoha conducted their lives, as though they may be taken away the next day. As she thought harder on the subject, Hermione relaxed her stance and turned to face Kakashi, appraising him thoughtfully.

"Any tips for your student, Kakashi-sensei?"

The silver haired man, laid back on the grass, bent his knees and flicked his body upright in one smooth, dextrous motion. "You haven't seen a great deal of hand to hand fighting, have you?" he asked her.

Hermione shook her head. "The majority of the time I've been involved in battle with other magic users." She gave him a wry smile. "People don't tend to get close enough to trouble me."

Kakashi cracked his knuckles and elbows, then narrowed his eyes at her. "Come at me", he instructed her.

Hermione met his glare, instantly readying herself for combat, rising up onto the balls of her feet and aiming her wand at Kakashi, who was similarly poised. With a shout of 'Stupefy', she felt energy pulse through her body and a bolt of scarlet light fire from her wand toward the man stood opposite. Except that he wasn't. As her spell caused the illusion of Kakashi to dissipate and the chunk of wood he'd replaced himself with to shoot off between the trees in a display of red sparks, she felt a breath of wind to her left and instinctively ducked and rolled to the right. Where he was standing with a pair of kunai pressed against either side of her neck. Damn.

"Again", Kakashi said, raising the razor sharp blades from her jugular. "This time, expect the unexpected. I'm a shinobi who is trained to deceive and to take advantage of stupidity and carelessness. A full frontal attack will not work, no matter how powerful."

Hermione gritted her teeth and stood, determined not to make another simple mistake. As she kept her eyes firmly on her opponent, she wondered when Kakashi had switched places with his illusion. She could have sworn he'd been laid there for over an hour. "I'm ready", she told him through gritted teeth.

"Then lets begin", he replied.

Their duelling lasted for the whole afternoon and despite her best efforts, Hermione never once got the better of the increasingly amused jounin. To his credit, he never once mocked her or acted condescendingly, his level of effort appropriate to her speed of learning, which she would later learn to be some of the fastest he'd seen. As the darkness fell over the small wood they'd trained in, Kakashi called a halt and sat down against one of the trees, atop one of the branches of which the blue plumed bird sat, watching attentively. Kakashi gave it a pointed stare, as if to ask why he was interfering in his private business, then sighed. "I'm afraid my chakra reserves are running low. I need to rest before we continue."

Hermione was relieved. Her muscles were aching, she had bruises everywhere and she hurt in places she didn't even know _could _hurt. Nobody had tested her like this since she'd duelled with Moody and Kingsley in their sessions at The Order all that time ago. Even then, it had been very different, about the resistance to pain and torture rather than the level of effort against a concerted physical attack from someone as talented as Kakashi. She got the feeling that he'd been going easy on her, too.

"How good are you?" she asked him. As she saw him look askance, gathering his thoughts, she rephrased the question. "I mean, how good am I, compared to, for example, Sasuke?"

A grin lit up his face. "Sasuke is a very talented boy, almost as gifted as I was at his age", he boasted, stifling a laugh as she raised an eyebrow. "However, if I pitted you against him in a duel, he would not have the range of skills available in order to defeat you."

The compliment raised a smile and she knew enough about Kakashi already to know he was being truthful. "Thank you", she told him.

"No need to thank me", he replied. "You are physically accomplished, although still naïve, have a weapon which is unfamiliar to everyone and you are extremely intelligent and intuitive, regardless of your potential with botany and healing. Most shinobi teams would be graced by your presence, already."

Hermione blushed, not for the first time today. "How about your team?" she asked, in spite of herself.

"I'm afraid that is up to the Hokage. He has his own ideas about where the best of us go. Personally, I think you need more training to meet your potential."

Hermione couldn't fail to agree with Kakashi's insight into her abilities. This was a very different style of combat than she'd become accustomed to, the natural gifts of the shinobi accentuated by their chakra generated powers, of which she'd seen only a tiny fraction when it came to her afternoon with the handsome jounin. Her natural talents only carried her so far and it'd be a long time before she could defeat her opponent for the day. At least, she figured as much. Her confidence in herself had never been her strongest suit, despite her meteoric rise through the wizarding ranks.

"So, perhaps we can go again tomorrow?" she asked Kakashi. As he rubbed the back of his head contemplatively, she could almost see the cogs turning in his mind.

"I would be delighted, although Naruto has requested some special training with regard to keeping up with Sasuke", this brought a resigned smile. "The two of them are forever battling with each other. One to prove his worth and the other out of indignation that his 'lesser' compatriot might actually defeat him."

Stretching her arms and feeling the pain in her shoulders from unfamiliar exercise, Hermione felt quite miffed that she wouldn't be able to spend another day like this. A day where she'd actually felt challenged for the first time in years. She sighed and sat down, drawing her knees up to her chin and pouting. "Perhaps another time, then", she told him, the look on her face expressing her disappointment in a very unsubtle manner.

Kakashi moved closer to her and hesitantly rested his hand on her knee. "I promise, you'll get plenty of opportunities to kick my ass. I _am_ the jounin to Team Seven though, which means they are my first duty", he paused in thought. "Perhaps you could join us tomorrow and offer your personal insight into their training. They are my first team of genin and, if I'm honest, I feel like I shouldn't be in command of such impressionable young people."

Hermione snorted. "That's bullcrap. Those kids worship you."

"Even so", Kakashi answered. "I'm new to this and I'd appreciate your assistance, especially considering how volatile they all seem to be."

Hermione had to agree with him, especially considering the politics between Naruto and Sasuke, not to mention the way Sakura spent the whole time driving the spiky blonde to greater efforts against the Uchiha. She figured a word in the ear of the young female ninja wouldn't go amiss. Competition and rivalry were one thing, but all out war in a team of shinobi was quite another. Her thoughts were distracted by her realisation that Kakashi hadn't removed his hand from her knee. Also that said hand was now beginning to squeeze. She growled at him, half in annoyance, half in anger at herself at how she actually didn't want him to move his hand but felt obligated to do so. Damn. As she circled his fingers with her own, Hermione felt his hand tense and saw his entire body do the same.

"Don't move", he ordered.

Biting her tongue, she acknowledged his order, with one condition. A swiftly uttered, 'Muffliato' created a bubble of silence around them. "You can speak freely", she told him. "What the Hell is going on?"

He had only one word for her. "Akatsuki."

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	7. Inconvenient visitors

Hermione's breath caught in her throat as the two cloaked figures entered the clearing in the deepening gloom. The first was distinctive looking, a much taller and broader man than his partner, her gaze instantly drawn to a wide smile full of bright teeth filed to sharpness. He had a deathly pallor, as if all his humanity had been sucked out of him and been replaced with something infinitely more dangerous. In spite of the coldly dominating presence of the larger figure, she found herself looking more at his companion. An otherwise unremarkable, if traditionally attractive face was offset by the blackest and most chilling eyes she'd seen since, well, since before she arrived here. He also looked familiar to her, yet she couldn't quite picture why.

The mounting silence was broken by Kakashi, his grip on her knee tight and beginning to become a little painful. "You might as well remove your silencing spell. These guys can read lips."

The smile of the one with the pallid skin grew wider and more deadly. "He's quite right." He turned to his smaller companion. "Looks like the stories were true, Itachi-san. We found ourselves something interesting."

The one called Itachi merely nodded, his eyes boring into Hermione's own. She shivered involuntarily and summarily removed the muffliato surrounding herself and Kakashi.

Hermione turned to the silver haired jounin. "What's going on?" she asked, the shiver refusing to subside and the hairs all over her body standing on end.

He looked grimly at her. "These are criminals. Missing-nin wanted for unspeakable acts. They've formed their own little organisation, according to the reports I've heard."

"Hoshigaki Kisame, at your service", the toothy one informed her. "Your exhausted friend is correct. We have forsaken our old lives in pursuit of, shall we say, different ideals?"

"If you consider mercenary murder to be an ideal", Kakashi responded, his mask back on and his visible eye narrowed in anger. "Kisame-san's talkative friend here is Sasuke's elder brother. The reason why little Sasuke is so introspect probably has something to do with the fact that Itachi, here, murdered his entire family and took off in the night, leaving only Sasuke alive."

Hermione gasped and looked incredulously towards Itachi. "Is that true?" she asked, her expression turning to one of disgust.

The Uchiha inclined his head, his expression unchanged. "It is true, yes. I claimed their lives."

"So why are you here?" Hermione challenged them both, getting to her feet and placing her hands on her hips in a gesture of confidence she didn't feel. "Coming so close to Konoha puts you in danger of a hell of a lot of retribution, wouldn't you say?"

Kisame cackled and unsheathed what Hermione took to be a sword, although she'd never seen one so large and strangely shaped. He pointed it at Kakashi. "Perhaps. If he was in shape to fight, brought a few of his friends and we weren't paying attention", he nodded respectfully towards Itachi. "Besides, I've never met anyone more capable than my comrade in combat."

This drew a mirthless smirk from the former Leaf ninja and he addressed Hermione. "Kisame-san, however verbose, is not exaggerating." She raised her eyebrows at Kakashi, who merely nodded in confirmation. "Yet this posturing gets us nowhere. I would like this exchange to remain civil and should it not, I can guarantee that my friends penchant for violence will be thoroughly sated."

Hermione could have sworn she saw the hilt of Kisame's sword twist and coil, before the larger man spoke, almost cooing to the huge blade. "Samehada would certainly enjoy some sweet Konoha chakra", he looked back at Kakashi almost sadly. "However, he hasn't got any left, so…" Kisame sheathed the sword and Hermione shook her head, almost feeling the tangible disappointment from the object. Bizarre.

"We came here to bring you to meet some people who could utilise your skills in a manner more becoming to someone of your talent", Itachi explained to her. "If you come quietly, we won't fall out. Whether you decide to come quietly or cause a fuss is irrelevant, except that I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy the consequences of the latter." She only had to look a little deeper into his eyes to see he was being serious. "Now, in the cordial spirit of this discussion, I'm prepared to let your Konoha friend go physically unscathed, although we can't have him following us or rushing to get help, so…"

Hermione heard the crunch as Kakashi collapsed to the floor, a single focused glance into his eye from Itachi sending him sprawling backwards with a look of agony etched on his face. As she dropped to his side, taking his shaking hands in her own, she shot an accusatory look at Itachi. "What did you do to him?" she asked.

The subject of her wrath didn't look in much better shape, a thin trickle of blood running from the tear ducts of both eyes and his posture slouched. Kisame interjected, his hand resting on his colleague's shoulder, steadying him.

"Itachi-san, I wish you'd just let me chop off his legs and save you the trouble." He looked askance at Hermione and addressed her in a businesslike tone. "Your friend will be fine, in a few days at least. Now we must go. Please, follow me."

Hermione didn't budge from her position at Kakashi's side, her eyes narrowed and her senses tingling. "I thought shinobi were taught to expect the unexpected", she looked fiercely at Kisame. "Don't ever underestimate me again!"

As the big man stepped towards her, his features menacing and his calloused hands reaching for her arm, attempting to drag her away, she disapparated herself and Kakashi with a loud crack, the space where she'd been knelt before now now filled with a flailing and very annoyed Kisame.

The Hokage was admirably inscrutable, considering his afternoon nap had been interrupted in such a surprising manner. Hermione, fighting to extract her limbs from a man who wasn't sure whether to throw up or pass out, did her best to give him an apologetic look.

"I take it there is a perfectly rational explanation as to why you and one of my jounin suddenly manifested on top of my desk?"

It suddenly became easier to look apologetic, as Kakashi, the effects of the genjetsu mixed together with those of apparition, promptly vomited into his waste paper basket, drawing a resigned look from his superior.

"I'm sorry, I didn't have much time to decide where to go. It seemed prudent to come here considering the encounter we just had with one of your former ninja and his creepy friend", she offered, rubbing Kakashi's back in sympathy.

The Hokage leant forward. "Please continue."

"I don't think Kakashi-san is capable of delivering any kind of report right now", Hermione looked at the rather green face of her compatriot and bit her lip. "However, he'll be able to tell you more than I can. All I know is that Sasuke's brother came to try and take me away to meet with members of Akatsuki. Judging by the way Kakashi reacted, I figured I'd stay here instead."

The Hokage stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Itachi was this close to Konoha? Interesting", he said and then paused for a moment. "You've obviously caught their attention with your cow stunt. I'm afraid that particular band of mercenaries are never shy about recruiting those of us with special talents, particularly those who are disassociated or disaffected with village life."

Hermione flushed and immediately felt guilty. "I've been here a few weeks and I'm already causing you problems."

"Nonsense, it just makes life more interesting", he replied, waving her consternation away. "At least we know the Akatsuki are recruiting. Better to know what they're doing than not to hear about them at all. In fact, this could work in Konoha's favour, if you'd be willing to play along?"

"What do you have in mind?" she asked him.

The Hokage sighed again and peered over his desk, shaking his head at Kakashi, who was now propped up against it with his eyes closed, blowing bubbles with his own saliva. "Firstly, I'd like you to take your young fellow here to the infirmary so he can get a proper rest. I take it he was on the receiving end of our missing-nin's special brand of jutsu?"

Hermione nodded. "What did he do to him? I saw his eyes bleeding afterwards, but Kakashi just dropped like a stone."

"Itachi is a very gifted shinobi, who is capable of a technique which tricks the victim's mind into believing it is trapped in space and time. Whilst in such a trap, Itachi can inflict as much pain or mental torture as he likes. It may only be seconds in real time, yet Kakashi in this instance would have encountered days, perhaps weeks of agony. Illusionary of course, but perfectly real to him. Kakashi's mind and body will need time to recover, as if he'd received the torture in real life. Physically he is unharmed, however his subconscious mind will still believe otherwise and require convalescence."

"I feel responsible for him", Hermione stated. "If he hadn't taken me into the woods, we would never have bumped into those men."

The Hokage shook his head again. "As I said, it wasn't your idea, or fault. If people like that wish to find you, I assure you its only a matter of time before they do. I'm just glad Kakashi was with you when they did, otherwise you wouldn't have known about the type of organisation they belong to."

"But, still…"

"If you feel responsible in any way, assuage your guilt by looking after him. I assure you that although what he suffered was extremely unpleasant and will take time to overcome, he will be happier with you nearby. The poor boy, in case you haven't noticed, is quite attached to you", he said, a knowing look crossing his weathered face.

She was becoming attached to him too, Hermione realised, as the Hokage called for a stretcher to take Kakashi for medical attention and she followed the orderlies down to the wing of the hospital he would be staying in, but then that growing attachment was perfectly natural. He was her only friend here, in spite of his reticence when it came to discussing his past, and the only one who'd actually taken the time to get to know her. Although her interaction with the other shinobi and villagers of Konoha had been civil, occasionally friendly, their unfamiliarity with her and natural reserve had led to her becoming isolated. That suited her to a degree, of course. She enjoyed her own company, but every time she finished a book, the silver hair, twinkling eye and ridiculously toned stomach of Kakashi kept popping into her head. Now, with him incapacitated, she felt a burning desire to take care of him. Nothing sinister in that, she thought to herself.

A week passed uneventfully. At least it was uneventful for Kakashi, who seemed to Hermione to spend his whole time asleep, unable to speak and only communicating positively or negatively by small movements of his eyes. She spent much of her spare time sat beside him, reading and trying her best not to notice the giggling and badly hidden talking behind her back which came from the likes of Sakura and her rival Ino, who'd put aside their differences temporarily in order to gossip about the witch who was spending an inordinate amount of time with the recovering jounin, also the odd visit from Naruto and Sasuke, the latter giving her suspicious glances when he thought she wasn't looking.

After Kakashi showed signs of improvement, Hermione asked the Hokage if she might look after him, the hospital food woefully bland and not a patch on her own concoctions, not to mention her growing irritation with the thirteen year old kunoichi who were blighting her time with him. The Hokage, after consultation with the medical staff, agreed and organised cover for Hermione's duties at the flower shop. That killed two birds with one stone, as Ino was drafted in and her own missions put on hold for the interim, which made Hermione grin.

Since Kakashi was laid in her own bed, Hermione took to sleeping in a comfortable chair nearby. On the fifth morning after he'd been transferred to her apartment, Kakashi finally spoke. "Your food is truly awful", he told her with a weak smile.

With a sharp look, Hermione replied in kind. "Washing your armpits isn't much fun either."

This brought a soft titter from her patient. "You only got me back here so you could see me naked."

"Oh, shush", she told him, her cheeks taking on the familiar red tinge they acquired every time he flirted with her so brazenly. She _had_ seen him naked, through necessity of course, but the distinction between sex and caring for him as an invalid had been very clear. That didn't mean she hadn't enjoyed the view, however.

As if reading her thoughts, Kakashi's smile broadened. "I knew it. It was all a secret scheme with Itachi to get me into your apartment!"

Hermione's face dropped and she suddenly felt sick in the pit of her stomach. "I wouldn't. You can't….say…"

She couldn't explain it, but that comment had really upset her. The feelings of responsibility for Kakashi's suffering, together with everything else since she'd arrived here, became overwhelming to the point where she spontaneously burst into tears, slouching forward in her chair and covering her face with her hands. Waves of tears and unstoppable wracking sobs hit her in the chest as the eyes of the man laid next to her widened in shock.

"Hermione…?" he asked plaintively, a look of concern spreading across his tired features. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

The sobs kept coming and coming, the repressed feelings of anxiety and loss hitting her like punches to her stomach as she rocked in her chair, Kakashi clearly not having a clue what to do, the time for witticisms clearly over and yet his body refusing to move in any way, shape or form towards comforting his friend. With monumental effort, he managed to slide one hand off his chest and across the bed sheets towards her, stopping short of touching but opening himself up should she want the closeness he was desperate to offer her.

Forcing herself to calm down, her practical side regaining control, Hermione sat up straighter in her chair and tried to regulate her breathing, focusing on Kakashi's face and outstretched hand, his eyes almost begging her to come to him for comfort.

"I miss them all so much", she told him, fresh tears coming unbidden and streaming down her face.

Kakashi's features became much softer, his eyes directed into the middle distance, clearly lost in thought. As he spoke, his voice took on a slightly vacant quality, as though the words he was saying belonged to someone else. "I understand. My life has been full, then empty, then full. Then….. empty again."

The silence which followed his words felt like a huge gulf, until Hermione crossed it, standing up with her head bowed and taking the single step to the bed, where she laid down next to Kakashi, her tear filled eyes connecting with his and their faces only inches apart, he managing to roll onto his side to face her and giving her his very best reassuring look, in spite of the memories she'd brought forth in him filling his thoughts.

As Hermione brought her hand up to Kakashi's hair, pulling a loose end away from his forehead and running her fingers repeatedly through the soft, silver strands, she sighed. "I don't want to lose you as well. Please don't let that happen?"

"Not if I have anything to do with it", he joked. "Although we might be best advised to figure out how to deal with that annoying Uchiha."

Her humour returned. "Yeah, Sasuke really does need some thinking about, right?"

They both laughed at the expense of the young genin, until Kakashi gave her a reproachful look. "He is a fine young man, particularly considering what happened."

"I know. I can't imagine how that must have felt", Hermione answered, her understanding of the intense young man growing and her sympathy with it. "Look after his head, won't you?"

Kakashi nodded and moved his forehead forward until it was touching her own. "With the same attention you've shown me", his eyes met hers. "Thank you, Hermione."

"My pleasure, despite your armpits!" she answered jovially, her mood lightened and feeling so close to the man laid almost prone beside her, yet suddenly very conscious of the fact they were near enough to become even closer. Biting her tongue to force herself, she backed away and kissed Kakashi on the top of his head, in spite of her heart shouting at her in a wanton desire to do otherwise.

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Please review :)


	8. Not how to train

This is starting to flow again after my enforced break and the difficulties of the last chapter, which to me felt like I was ploughing through metaphorical mud. I also have a sneaking feeling that this story will soon become 'M' rated, particularly because I feel like its easier for me to write when I'm less inhibited. I've changed the rating accordingly and the warning occurs now, before I inadvertently offend anyone.

Anyway, happy reading and any feedback is gratefully received! :)

* * *

The advertisements for the forthcoming chunnin exams had gone up all over town and Hermione's involvement with Team 7 had grown to such an extent that she had almost become a surrogate big sister to the young trio, her focus and aptitude for study providing an excellent counter balance to Kakashi's natural talent.

The jounin, now fully recovered and back to his old, lackadaisical self, remarked once about her own experiences at Hogwarts growing up with Harry and Ron, comparing his team to her own group of friends growing up. The comparison made Hermione laugh, as aside from precocious talent, their personalities were quite different. She supposed that Ron and Naruto shared the same clumsiness and lack of understanding when it came to social convention. As for Sasuke, his moods did remind her of Harry, especially now she understood a little more of the burden he carried. However, that was where the comparison ended. The two male genin shared a very different dynamic to the firm friends she'd spent her own teenage years with and she felt barely any connection with the aloof Uchiha, whereas Naruto never ceased to impress her, in spite of his frequent buffoonery. She'd found out about his own turbulent past in long discussions with his sensei during Kakashi's convalescence and had been intrigued at the idea of a jinchuuriki. The contrast between the bubbly blonde and his grouchy rival only appeared larger in that context.

Now, with Sakura, Hermione saw a young shadow of herself evolving. The girl's complete lack of confidence in herself belying a very keen intellect and a great deal more skill than she gave herself credit, the kunoichi shared a lot of characteristics with a young Hermione Granger. She could feel the girl itching to show her knowledge, yet her inherent shyness in front of Sasuke and his annoying habit of shooting her down, often kept her from speaking up. Naruto didn't help, his vociferous approval of whatever she said frequently lessening the impact of a very insightful young mind and rendering her opinions moot in the face of impending rows between the two boys. Hermione felt aggrieved that Sakura was being treated as a foil to their rivalry and decided there and then to take her under her wing.

As she and Kakashi watched the three of them renewing their efforts in one of his regular drills, the jounin kicking chunks of wood through the air and challenging his team to hit them with kunai, she saw the children's behaviour repeated over and over again. Naruto trying to impress Sakura and being ignored, Sasuke arrogantly flicking several kunai into the swiftly moving targets with a bored look on his face, the purpose of which Hermione figured was to humiliate his blonde rival and certainly not to impress his sensei or pink haired fan-girl. For her part, Sakura was spending far too long watching Sasuke and not enough time practising her substandard skills. Hermione sighed. With a pointed glance at Kakashi, who didn't seem to be paying enough attention to the pair who were under achieving and instead driving Sasuke on to greater feats of skill, she moved over to Sakura, the pinkette's eyes firmly on the smooth and easy movements of her crush.

"Isn't he amazing?" the young kunoichi asked her rhetorically, drawing her hands up and clasping them in front of her heart.

Hermione was about to reply, but a memory of her younger self stopped her, Hermione's own puppy eyes toward Victor Krum bringing a cringe to her face. The comparison was apt, the tall and brooding Quidditch star possessing about as much charisma as Sasuke, which in turn was barely more than the blocks of wood now being peppered with Konoha steel. Her own crush, however, hadn't impacted on her schooling, as Sakura's was in danger of doing, not to mention being a detriment to her teamwork.

"I'd say Naruto is improving more", she replied to her charge.

This brought a contemptuous snort from Sasuke, which was followed in turn by a titter from Sakura, who quickly cut it off due to a very barbed look from Hermione. The Uchiha wasn't about to be silenced so quickly, however.

"Naruto couldn't hit a tree if it was standing right in front of him, let alone a skilled shinobi. I'm sick of carrying him. We have the chunnin exams in less than a week and what can he do? Pff", he said mockingly, illustrating his point by directing a kunai toward his unsuspecting teammate, currently facing in a different direction and standing with his arms folded, trying to ignore Sasuke's aptitude with the blades. The blunt handle hit him firmly on the back of the head with a thud.

Naruto turned around and gave Sasuke an evil look, rubbing the bruise already forming on his scalp, his expression turning to hurt indignation as Sakura burst out laughing. Hermione was furious, stood with her hands on her hips and attempting to fix Kakashi with a glare, the jounin doing his best to pretend the conflict wasn't occurring and seemingly clueless as to how to deal with it. Well she wasn't going to stand for that.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" The use of his family name in such a tone brought a sneer. "How dare you treat your colleague like that!"

Hermione's rage was building and she took out her wand, brandishing it at his smug face. Kakashi closed and rubbed his eyes, then shook his head in irritation, moving from his slouching position and ready to intercede if necessary.

The angry witch, fighting the urge not to do something horrible, marched up to the genin and, as Naruto and Sakura both gasped, picked up the shocked boy by the front of his tunic with strength that surprised even her, locking eyes with him and finding him suddenly much less cocky.

"Get off me, you bitch. Who do you think you are?"

Hermione didn't blink, the bravado in Sasuke's tone not matched by the rest of his body, which had started to shake. She replied in a low, threatening tone. "If you lay another finger on Naruto, undermine his confidence or treat him, or Sakura, with the lack of respect you showed just now, I will personally see to it that you never see any more training here. I know what happened to your family, but that doesn't give you the excuse to act like a jerk to people who look up to you and respect you!"

Sasuke looked appealingly toward Kakashi, who just shrugged and sat back down, his hands behind his head. Hermione continued, her tone somehow even more menacing and her grip on him tightening. "Also, if you call me a bitch again, I will personally come to your room in the middle of the night, cut off your pre-pubescent private parts and glue them magically to your forehead."

With that, she dropped him on the floor and marched away from the training area, her hands curled into fists by her sides and her teeth pressed together in a grimace of frustration, daring the boy to take things further. She was really spoiling for a fight. Wisely, Sasuke remained on the floor, noting with hurt pride that Kakashi was hurrying after Hermione and not coming to his aid. Sakura just stood, trying to process the last couple of minutes and not doing very well.

Naruto, still rubbing his head, had his mouth wide open in awe at the display from the previously placid witch. It wasn't very often anyone ever stuck up for him, particularly someone as pretty as Hermione…. As he watched her walk away, taut with anger, he looked at her in a very different way to before, his young eyes dropping to her bottom, which was swaying appealingly. His reverie was interrupted by Sakura, who had clearly come to a decision and wrapped her arms round him from behind, squeezing him tightly and bringing forth a confused, "Sakura-chan?", before releasing him and hurrying after Hermione and Kakashi. Putting his hands in his pockets with a rueful smile, Naruto figured it was time for some ramen, leaving the sobbing Sasuke in the dirt behind him to consider his actions.

~oOo~

Hermione was ready to blow off some steam, so found her way to Hachiro's bar, the elderly proprietor welcoming her in with his inscrutable gaze, pointing her towards the booth she and Kakashi had shared a month or so before, where a very sheepish looking jounin was sat with two glasses and a mostly full bottle of sake.

"Share a drink with a clueless teacher?" he asked her.

Biting her lip and in all honesty feeling like turning around and spending some time alone, Hermione instead took a deep breath and sat down opposite him, pouring herself a large shot of the fiery liquid and spinning the glass about in her fingers before downing it in one swig. "Why do you let him get away with behaving like that?" she asked him, unable to meet Kakashi's eye and feeling quite disappointed in him.

"I know he's got issues, but he has his reasons", he responded, the answer to her question feeling very inadequate, even to him.

"Nobody deserves to be treated that badly, no matter what happened to Sasuke", she fired back, dismissing any response about the Uchiha's history, however unfortunate. "Why do you not care about Naruto?"

The question struck Kakashi hard, she could tell, the stock answer obvious to him and yet equally unpalatable in view of who he was giving it to.

"Naruto, as you know, is a jinchuuriki", he started, then stopped, unable to justify the argument everyone in the village had used against the boy ever since his birth, to the newcomer.

"All the more reason to look out for him, wouldn't you say?" she countered. "Do you know, in the short time I've spent in his company, I've seen nothing but him desperate to impress you, yet you have more time for that…. knobhead", the insult coming out in English, Hermione unable to find a suitable translation. She carried on, her voice rising involuntarily. "I don't know how it works here, but back where I come from there are different views on who should and shouldn't practice magic. Those of us who have magical parents are considered by some to be of superior stock, an argument which, in the last wizarding war, led to the capture, torture and murder of many who were not so 'blessed'."

Kakashi refilled her drink. "I see."

"One of the more base insults a magic user born into a notable wizarding family could use, was to call those of us born to muggle parents, 'mudbloods'", she told him, the word sticking in her throat as it always did.

"Muggles being people who didn't use magic?"

"Didn't and couldn't, nor had any knowledge of witches or wizards unless their children had magical talent. My parents are…. _were_ both muggles."

Kakashi pondered for a moment. "I can understand why you would feel angry at such treatment."

Hermione let it sink in a little, then carried on. "So imagine you're Naruto. Imagine that there are the bloodline familes, then the sub families, then the regular, normal shinobi. Keep going down the hierarchy until you come past the criminals and the rats and birds which feast on your garbage. That's roughly where I find people's opinions of that poor boy to be. Imagine that was you, then imagine how you would have turned out. I think he's amazing, all things considered."

"Where is your bird, incidentally?" Kakashi asked her, trying to lighten the mood. He received a frown for his trouble.

"Don't change the subject. Am I the only one who's going to look out for that young man, or are you going to put that spoiled little high born Uchiha brat in his place and make him start treating Naruto like an equal?"

The two of them sat in silence for a while, Hermione having had her say and Kakashi chewing her words over.

As the minutes passed and as if he'd known they were talking about him, Hermione's bluebird flew through an open window, knocking over the drink of a bar patron and causing him to spill it all over himself, the outraged yell sending Hachiro running toward his table with a cloth, half trying to pat down the damp trousers of the poor man and half trying to hit the bird, who was adroitly avoiding his attempts and driving the barkeep to more and more aggressive swings of his towel. Settling on Hermione's shoulder, he began to chirp merrily, apparently happy to see her. Hachiro, his arms folded and a scowl etched on his face, held out his hand in expectation of payment for the spilled drinks.

"I think your familiar did that on purpose", Kakashi grumbled, fishing out a few coins with a forced smile towards the barkeep, who left their table, muttering under his breath and bowing apologetically towards the soggy and rather alcoholic smelling man.

"I'm just surprised he didn't do it to you", Hermione countered, unable to keep a smile from her face at the discomfort from her companion.

Kakashi shook his head and groaned, bringing the subject back on topic. "Bloody kids. Things were much simpler when I just had to kill people."

She stood, the complaint from the jounin obviously meant in jest and bringing a positive enough conclusion to their discussion, at least for now. She left her share of the money for the drinks on the table, trying in vain to stop her bird from pecking at the shiny coins. "You're clearly very good at killing people", she told him. "Now help your team be the same", her smile fading into seriousness as she decided to clarify. "Help all of them, no matter whether they have a nine tailed demon fox inside them or just a bad attitude. Now lets go and get some food. I'm starving."

Kakashi sighed and nodded, her reasoning sound. "Fine. I know an excellent place to get ramen. Something tells me a young man with a penchant for mischief might be there. I figure I might buy you both some dinner."

~oOo~

Naruto was indeed at Ichiraku's ramen stall, finishing off his third bowl of tasty noodle soup. What surprised his sensei and adopted big sister (at least that's how she saw herself, not knowing the way the way the genin had looked at her after her involvement in their training) was the young woman sat next to him. Hermione shushed Kakashi, who had almost exclaimed in happy surprise, then pulled him into the darkness at the side of the street, so they could watch the endings of what was clearly a date between Naruto and Sakura.

"Looks like your intervention had an unlikely result", he joked at her, bringing a grin from the witch.

"Oh, shush, let them eat. We shouldn't be watching them either. Its rude."

"What would you prefer we did?" he asked her.

Hermione was suddenly aware of Kakashi's hands around her waist and his breath in her hair as they became more comfortable, he tucked up with his back against the wall of the alley they'd hidden in and her bottom pressed up against him. She wondered, of all things, when he'd taken his mask off. "What did you have in mind?" she answered him with another question, wanting him to take the lead, mostly because she didn't want to be responsible for the consequences.

He didn't answer conventionally, instead breathing the scent of her hair in deeply through his nose and moving his left hand across her torso to take her own left hand in his. As his fingers dragged lightly across the soft cloth of the tunic covering her belly she felt her stomach flip and the warmth of the alcohol in her chest mingle with the growing feelings of arousal beginning to burn lower inside her.

Biting her upper lip as his free hand trailed upwards, pulling her hair and the neck of her top gently to one side, she was unable to suppress a groan of pleasure as she felt Kakashi's lips caress her neck, moving up to the lobe of her ear, which he nibbled softly, changing her moan to a ticklish squeal.

The two genin, their ears obviously trained to pick things up which were out of the ordinary, both turned around. Naruto, with a mouth full of ramen which he nearly spat on the floor, only his desire not to waste any keeping him from doing so, just sat there agape. Sakura acted with slightly more decorum, decorum which was soon lost completely as she made out her sensei and Hermione in the gloom across the street.

"Kakashi-sensei, Hermione-sama!" she shouted indignantly.

The sudden realisation they'd been discovered made Hermione jump, the back of her head bashing Kakashi forcefully in the nose and soliciting a grunt of pain from her suitor, whose nose began to spew blood all over the back of Hermione's top. As the two of them made a break for it, attempting to escape their students whilst trying desperately to find something to stop Kakashi's death by blood loss, Hermione couldn't stop laughing.

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Please review :)


	9. Office politics

Thanks so much for the continuing positive reviews, it makes me smile so much. If you think I deserve them, please continue, it keeps me writing :)

Also, if you have any suggestions, please give me feedback of any sort. I do listen and it is very much appreciated.

Also, for any Sasuke fans out there, this isn't, as you may have realised, gonna be 'your thing'. I will treat him as fairly as my mood allows, but I may have Hermione pummel him again, because I think the annoying little git deserves it.

As Terry Pratchett once signed in one of my books (love that guy), 'Read on!'

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The blood had eventually stopped pouring from Kakashi's now rather sensitive nose and the two of them parted ways with a regretful hug. The moment had passed, at least for now. Although Hermione felt his eyes burning into her back as she left him at the door to her apartment, the tiredness from the days 'training' had kicked in with a vengeance and sleep would not be long in coming. As she stripped, laying the spattered tunic down on the floor, she could barely manage the strength to utter a quick 'Scourgify', the red stains on the garment magically lifted off and dropping on to the wooden floor with a swish of her wand, the drying blood hitting the planks with little splats. She'd sort that out tomorrow. Collapsing on her mattress face first with a sigh, she was snoring loudly within seconds.

~oOo~

"_The ritual is almost complete, mistress."_

"_Good, then perhaps you'd be so kind as to hurry up and finish it? I haven't got an eternity."_

_The voices came from down an ornately decorated stone corridor. Hermione followed the sound, careful not to make too much noise on the hard floor and using the light of the oil candles in sconces adorning the walls to guide her, the lack of daylight almost overpowering and making her feel claustrophobic. The corridor opened out into a small antechamber, occupied by four hooded figures and one other, her robes beautifully tailored and embroidered with silver lace which glittered in the firelight, yet her face shrouded in shadow, the light from the small flames not quite penetrating to the side of the room she was standing._

_Peeking around the corner, Hermione felt something powerful radiating from the woman who was clearly waiting on her subordinates to complete whatever it was they had begun, their soft, feminine chanting and swaying coupled with a set of heads bowed in reverence toward their mistress._

_The woman, her interest in the timing of the ritual very clear, began to disrobe. As she undid the rope knot in front of her and exposed her breasts and belly, Hermione gasped loudly, covering her mouth in a futile gesture to hide the sound._

_The one in command tensed suddenly and her head whipped round to where the infiltrator was hiding._

"_I knew you'd come", the dark figure intoned calmly, her smooth voice apparently unheard by her initiates. "We've been waiting a very long time for you to arrive."_

_Hermione, her back flattened hard against the stone wall and trying to breathe normally, gritted her teeth, attempting to summon her usual resolve, which for some reason had deserted her. Her feet felt glued to the floor and the cool stone behind her became icy cold. She felt nothing more than the desire to run for her life…._

~oOo~

Waking with a start, she was surprised to find none other than Naruto shaking her by the shoulders and shouting at her.

"Hermione-sama! Hermione-sama! Wake up!"

She growled at him, or at least attempted to, the sound coming out strangled from a throat which felt ridiculously thirsty. "Naruto… What do you want? It must be four in the morning. Why are you in my bedroom?"

The boy stopped shaking her and scratched his head, as if expecting to be in trouble very shortly, but then, apparently satisfied that he had a legitimate reason to shake a woman in her underwear, decided to press on regardless with the truth. "Kakashi-sensei sent me to come get you", he told her. The look on her face advised him to elaborate quickly, which fortunately for him, he did. "When you didn't show up for training yesterday or this morning, I came by and knocked on the door, but there was no answer, so I waited outside your window until it got dark and…"

"Wait, what?" she asked him, her voice coming out as a croak. "Look, first, get me some water, I'm bloody parched. Oh, and turn around for a second."

Hermione grabbed her tunic, quickly rearranged a bra which was barely covering her breasts, then slipped the protective layer over the top, sliding her legs off the bed and standing to pull it over her knickers, all the while keeping an eye on the genin to ensure he didn't peek. With decency restored, she took the proffered glass with a grateful smile.

"Go on", she ordered, devouring the contents in two gulps, then passing it back to Naruto to refill. He did so obligingly.

"Anyway, I waited until it got dark, but you still didn't show. I thought you'd gone off without telling anyone, but I couldn't find any trace of you, so after I looked around for a few hours, I came back. You were screaming. I couldn't understand what you were saying, but I thought you were being attacked, so I came in."

Hermione had only just noticed the fact that her window was shattered, shards of glass on the floor inside and the rather broken horizontal blind casting reflected moonlight onto the floor. "I was screaming? Okay fine_, _but you said I've been gone _two_ days?"

He did a calculation in his head, as if counting to two was troubling him and he wanted to be a hundred percent sure of his answer. "Yep, two days. After me and Sakura saw you and Kakashi-sensei making out in the alley…"

"We were not making out", she corrected. "If you hadn't noticed, we were checking up on you to make sure you were both okay."

A wry grin formed on his face as he saw the blush forming on her face contradict her words. "Yeah, sure. I never saw Sakura-san look so shocked. If I tried that on her, she'd punch me in the head."

Hermione tittered, not least at the respectful way he described Sakura in front of an adult, as opposed to the more intimate way he addressed her in person. Then, as the reality of his words hit home, a concerned frown crossed her face. "If you're telling the truth", she paused and gave the genin a reassuring look to fend of the inevitable complaint. "Then I've been asleep for over fifty hours."

"Shall I go tell Kakashi-sensei you'll see him in about an hour?" Naruto asked, his instincts kicking in as soon as the prospect of a mission was in the offing.

Hermione pondered for a second, then decided, figuring she could use a shower. "Tell him I'll meet him at his place in forty-five minutes", she told him. Then, as practicality overcame optimism, she changed her mind. "Actually, make that ninety, I have to do my hair."

Naruto beamed, his winning smile bringing the same from her face. "Yes, Hermione-sama. Consider it done."

As he leapt out of her window with the obligatory 'whoop', she shouted after him. "Oh, and thank you, Naruto!"

~oOo~

Hermione and Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage. She was getting a little bored of the constant appearances in front of the admittedly very engaging shinobi leader, the encounters beginning to feel like the frequent explanations she and her Hogwarts friends had had to make to Albus Dumbledore, their exploits giving the Headmaster a mixture of headaches and new problems, yet their service to him invaluable nonetheless. The Hokage looked at her and sighed, loudly. She bit her lip, the memory of her thirteen year old self at the forefront of her mind.

The elderly man looked at her through narrowed eyes under his official hat, giving him a slightly comedic air. "May I say, Hermione Granger, that I was hoping your profile in my village would be restricted to a helpful, albeit exotic influence?"

The following silence didn't help, the two of them standing in front of him, Kakashi shifting nervously, obviously knowing something she didn't and Hermione thinking the man behind the desk looked like a Japanese super-villain.

Barely resisting some very inappropriate giggling, she composed herself. "I assume my silver haired friend has told you of my rather interesting dream?"

"Amongst other things, yes", he answered her, the look on his face becoming, if anything, more serious.

Hermione turned towards the jounin, her face reddening. "Like what?"

The Hokage, seeing Kakashi's face darken and become very uncomfortable, decided to interject. "I have decided, bearing in mind the upcoming chunnin exams and your… influence… on Team 7, to", he started confidently, then paused, the look on Kakashi's face becoming darker and darker. "Kakashi-san, please leave us", he ordered.

Hermione reached for her friend's arm as Kakashi turned to leave the office. He gave her a fiercely apologetic look in response, his eyes burning into hers with indignant, yet impotent fury, shrugging off her grasp in anger at the impending news.

As the door closed behind him, she bared her teeth and approached the desk. "What the Hell is going on?" she asked, her voice tremulous, feeling very confused.

The Hokage breathed in deeply through his nose, his demeanour non threatening and his face sad. "I'm afraid that, after consultation with The Council and The Elders, that your presence in Konoha can no longer be… justified", he told her, the final word clearly sticking in his throat.

Hermione perched on the edge of his desk, her heart racing and the security she felt at finding a home in this unfamiliar land, completely evaporating. "Justified? I don't understand. What have I done, except for helping? I saved your precious Team Seven's lives, I treated you with complete respect and I've dealt with you all with utter honesty."

The Hokage shook his head, meeting her eyes in an attempt to placate her. "For my part, I think you're a welcome addition. However, my part is only relevant if the others agree. I am sorry, but you will have to find your way elsewhere."

Her hands, rolled into fists and her knuckles feeling like they were embedded into the wood of his desk, Hermione asked, "Why?"

"Two things", he answered, sliding something to the side of her and resting a placating palm on her shoulder. "There are people in this village who do not think kindly when an outsider acts in a manner which is considered insulting to a member of a noble family", he said, shaking his head in frustration as she gasped in understanding. "Secondly…."

He didn't have to explain. The surprise, then the two steps back from his desk Hermione took, were enough to confirm his suspicions as she recognised the garment at her side, the embroidered silver thread matching that in her dream to perfection.

She looked at him in a mixture of confusion and hurt. "But, I'm not her. I'm me. It was a dream…"

"Its enough. I'm sorry."

Hermione didn't wait to hear his apology, her aggressive steps echoing off his floor, raising a wince from her host as she stood in front of his door and aimed a spell at it, the snarl from her lips splintering the subject of her wrath into tiny pieces as the spectral axe aimed from her wand shattered it.

The cries of anger from outside the Hokage's office, quickly coming closer as the ANBU bodyguards surrounding Hermione were silenced by the man himself, who, with Hermione's wand pointed directly at him, spoke calmly. "This woman, although an exile from Konoha, is not our enemy." He continued, as the witch opposite him lowered her wand in a gesture which showed a great deal of good faith. "She has offered us her service. However, it has been decreed that she is a danger to our village and should therefore seek her future elsewhere."

Her fists still clenched, Hermione changed her aim toward a particularly agitated ANBU, the man's cat mask shaking at the danger his Hokage had faced and that his own life was now placed in. She lifted up the ceremonial hat and whispered in Sarutobi's ear, never taking her eye from the trembling operative. "Tell Kakashi to meet me in three days. I'll be waiting in the village we met. He'll understand."

With a barely perceptible nod her only guarantee, Hermione disapparated.

~oOo~

"Crap. Crap and Goddammit!" Hermione cursed, the only stability she'd managed to acquire since arriving in this crazy place gone for good, at least as long as the one person she'd managed to befriend was out of her sight.

Could she trust the Hokage? She didn't know, only his words of solace at the time of her banishment giving her a small amount of comfort. She could hardly blame him, the man clearly trapped by political pressure, at least if he'd been truthful, her understanding of the Leaf village still painfully short. Her grumbling was interrupted by a familiar sound.

As she turned her head towards a very grouchy ostrich, the bird hopping up and down and pawing at the ground in between times, she stamped one foot in frustration, deciding in the absence of anything else to do, she may as well have some breakfast.

It turned out that ostriches tasted much like cows, at least when they'd been cooked. Her own experience with cows was still painfully close, but the thought didn't distract her from her feast, the smell of the beast on the spit giving her a sense of satisfaction she hadn't felt since pummelling that irritating little brat, Sasuke. Her meal, however, was interrupted by a familiar face.

"How interesting", Kisame said, holding out a plate he'd conjured from somewhere. "I never ate anything which squarked, before. Care to share some?"

Hermione, at this point, really couldn't have cared less who she shared dinner with, her sensibilities and opinions of people gone by the wayside and her inherent stubbornness firmly kicking in. "Sure thing", she told him, magically carving a piece of flesh from the carcass with her wand and flicking it accurately towards the grinning Akatsuki.

"That's some skill you have", he told her, tossing the charred flesh of the deceased bird into his mouth and slicing it up with two layers of razor teeth. Hermione shivered, but at this point seriously didn't care, her mind pretty open.

"I'm not from around here", she replied, transfixed by his eating habits.

"We know", Kisame replied with a scary grin, his tongue working its way between his teeth to capture any missing meat, the calloused flesh resistant to the almost transparent blades in his mouth. He held out his plate again and Hermione filled it, plenty of meat from the large animal to go around. "Sorry for the rather straightforward attempt to 'recruit' you, before."

Hermione couldn't think straight. Faced with these menwith Kakashi by her side, everything had seemed so straightforward, the instinct to protect her friend all that mattered. Yet now, with her backside kicked firmly out of Konoha by a xenophobic leader and with her friend's support clearly missing, what did she have to lose? "Tell me about Akatsuki", she ordered Kisame, the tall man clearly enjoying himself at the impromptu table in front of him.

His response was simple. Before she could do anything, he'd unsheathed his sword and it was at her neck in less than a heartbeat, his pallid face still ensconced in pleasure at the delicious meal in front of him, the massive blade held firmly in one muscled hand. "Don't move an inch, especially not towards that wand", he told her.

Hermione realised Itachi and Kisame had a fairly interesting line in conversation, as she spent the journey towards their hideout over the shoulder of the larger man. She'd expected Itachi to be a mirror image of his brother for some reason. However, as her stomach bounced on Kisame's shoulder uncomfortably, her arms and legs tethered, she began to realise the elder Uchiha was very unlike his younger sibling. The blankness of Sasuke was not in evidence in Itachi. In fact, whilst observing the conversations between the two missing-nin, she looked toward the elder brother with increased interest, as his handling of the rather brash and straightforward Kisame engendered some grudging respect from the watching witch, the dominance of the one in control of the partnership becoming increasingly obvious. As the trio continued toward their destination, she decided to pipe up.

"Itachi-san?" she asked, trying to catch his eye with her most sparkling smile.

This brought a snort. "Yes?"

"I was wondering, that now I've relinquished my wand, you'd permit me to walk alongside you?"

The request only resulted in a gag being put in her mouth, the two Akatsuki obviously very clear on the matter of her 'recruitment'.

"Mhhf mmmmmmrrrppph mmfthhhh", she pointed out, her customary eloquence curtailed by the impromptu device, which to her annoyance had been crafted out of her tunic, leaving her bottom clearly exposed to any passers by. Naturally there weren't any, the passage of the two mercenaries and their 'guest' unhindered. Not that anyone except trained shinobi would have dared attack them, of course.

Hermione satisfied herself with constant grumbling, saving herself for the impending meeting with someone more senior than the two errand boys. She tried to disregard the fact that the errand boys had managed to subdue her without a fight, in spite of her complete lack of motivation for such. The point was, she was on her own and anyone who could help her was more important than any loyalty to some village who she didn't really know and who had betrayed her trust. She was especially annoyed with Kakashi, her attraction to the jounin making her feel incredibly stupid and therefore even less resistant towards defending his town. Dammit, she was mad.

The three hour journey complete, Kisame laid Hermione down gently with a grunt, the effort of carrying her over twenty miles taking its toll, in spite of his really quite impressive physique. She had, somehow, managed to sleep on the journey, her body evidently still not quite ready to deal with the ordeal of her dream.

As she adapted to the new environment, the door to the cave she'd been brought into closing with a huge 'crump' and the sound reverberating and echoing throughout the vast chamber she'd been laid in, she cocked her head and tried to make out the figure at the head of the dozen cloaked people in front of her. With a gasp of surprise as she felt a stab at her neck, Hermione pawed at the shifting face of the masked man, who was getting closer and closer. With a frustrated moan, she passed out.

* * *

Please review :)


	10. New friends?

Hope you enjoy this chapter. My beta was pretty shocked when I banished Hermione, but its all part of a grander plan! Let me know what you think.

* * *

"Well, this was to be expected", smirked Sasuke, his retribution on Hermione served far faster than he imagined, the meddling woman now well out of the way.

Kakashi couldn't bring himself to answer his charge, his mood bleak and his frustration almost too much to bear, another person in his life taken away just as he was getting close, irrespective of the worry he felt for Hermione. His worst fears shot through his mind, each scenario becoming more painful and the visions of the fate of the woman he was growing very attached to, more and more gruesome. The message from the Hokage, Sarutobi coming through for Hermione in spite of his role as the mouthpiece of Konoha's banishment of her, had come to nothing. Hermione hadn't appeared at the place she'd arranged to meet, although there were signs of her passing. Scuff marks on the ground indicated a swiftly ended struggle and there were the remnants of a campfire, where presumably she'd eaten. Kakashi had sent Pakkun, his ninja dog, to sniff her out, hoping his summon would be able to find the scent before it was too late.

"You're lost in thought, Kakashi-sensei", Sakura told him, the exercises he'd set her complete and the flushed girl breathing hard, her hands resting on her knees as she crouched down, trying to recover before he set her more.

He waved her away. "You have one day to prepare for the written section of the chunnin exams", he told her, giving her a stern look. "I suggest you finish your physical training and get some rest."

Kakashi knew the kunoichi would instead spend the next hours with her face buried in books and scrolls, looking for any information she could utilise in the test tomorrow. She had an excellent shot at passing the difficult paper, her knowledge easily at chunnin level already. That wasn't the problem. In the few days Hermione had spent with her, her aptitude for combat had increased exponentially, yet now that she was gone, Sakura's level had dropped off again in the face of Sasuke's renewed efforts to ignore her, her brittle confidence shattered time and again as she sought to impress her team member, who was focused on nothing but his personal progression. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Sasuke in the written test, the boy's talented eyes more than a match for the intentionally too difficult exam. The kid was born to cheat. Naruto, however….

"Kakashi-sensei!" the subject of his thoughts crowed. "What _can_ you tell us about the chunnin exam? Why is it some big secret?"

His attention brought back to his team, their big day tomorrow pushing itself back to the forefront of his mind, Kakashi rubbed his face to try and shut Hermione out of his thoughts. Whatever had happened to her, she wouldn't forgive him for letting the kids down. Besides, there wasn't much more that he could do for her whilst Pakkun was off searching. "As I've told you on at least five occasions, Naruto, even if I did know what was on that paper, I wouldn't tell you. This is about measuring your skill and an unfair advantage at this stage would diminish the achievement of passing."

The genin looked as crestfallen as he had on the four previous attempts to extract some useful information, clearly worried about his chances.

Kakashi took pity on him. "Look, if you work together as a team, there's every chance you'll succeed. That's all I can tell you."

Naruto harrumphed, the hint clearly going straight over his head. Kakashi sighed and scratched his backside absent mindedly, wishing for a simpler life. One which utilised his skills rather than the impotence he felt around these young hopefuls. With a shake of his head, he told Sasuke and Naruto to take the rest of the day off, the pair immediately chasing after Sakura to try and glean some insight into her knowledge. He went back to dwelling on Hermione.

~oOo~

For her part, Hermione woke from her enforced slumber and, once she'd checked to see she still had all her limbs, realised that she actually felt reasonably comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one could feel when they were chained up. Her initial impression of her captors, almost always the way when you saw your friend cut down beside you, was negative. Yet now, in their company, she had begun to relax in spite of the tether around her ankle. They had placed her in a cozy, albeit old and dirty looking chair and propped her up with cushions. The large, leather chair looked completely out of place in the dank cave, no other furniture apparent and Itachi and Kisame knelt in the corner sharing a whispered conversation.

Why they'd felt the need to send her unconscious on her arrival, she still didn't know. She didn't hurt anywhere, nor had they violated her in any way, at least as far as she was aware.

"Hey, Itachi-san", she called over, the effort of speaking making her woozy, the drug they'd administered to her clearly not completely worn off.

He broke off his tête-à-tête with Kisame and they both looked over. In spite of Itachi's black eyes, she found him far more palatable to approach, his partner considering her as one might consider a juicy burger.

She tried to raise a smile, managing a weak, lopsided grin. It would do. "So, what can I do for you, gentlemen?"

Kisame laughed throatily, his mirth immediately cut off by a sharp hand gesture from Itachi, who answered her, his voice more quiet and considered than she remembered it from her earlier encounters, the man completely in control. "I'm sorry again for placing you under duress", he apologised. "I hope you appreciate we had little choice in the matter, under the circumstances of our earlier meeting?"

His words were fair enough and Hermione nodded. "This drug?" she asked.

"It will wear off in a matter of minutes and then you will be back to normal, although some of your more exotic abilities have been… inhibited."

"How do you mean?" she enquired, knowing the answer before she'd asked the question.

This was also apparent to Itachi, who paused before continuing. "Your magic has been suppressed by a sealing technique", he told her, standing and walking over before rolling up the sleeve of her wand arm to reveal an unfamiliar mark on her skin. It looked like a tattoo, although the ink seemed to shift as she gazed at it.

"The magical currents in your body operate almost exactly the same as our chakra does", Itachi explained, his face emotionless and his tone unwavering. She found it quite unnerving. "This seal operates as a tap would. With training you can learn to control the release of your magic. In fact, you should be able to use it as you would your wand device, previously."

"Where is my wand, exactly?"

"It isn't your wand, now, is it? You're only borrowing it", Kisame interrupted, drawing Hermione's eyes long enough to see he was twirling it between his large fingers. The snapping sound as he broke the brittle wood in two echoed around the enclosed space.

Hermione cringed and closed her eyes tightly, the gesture from her captor causing her heart to skip a beat. "It seems that you have everything thought out", she said as she opened her eyes and shot Kisame an angry look, receiving a toothy smile in return. "So now that you have me unable to escape, perhaps you could remove my shackles? If I am your guest, of course."

Itachi complied, kneeling down behind her. "These aren't necessary and yes, you are our guest. In fact, we would be very interested in having you join our ranks, particularly considering your recent exit from Konoha."

"Without magic, I won't be very useful", she shot back, their knowledge about her banishment coming as a shock. Her challenging words had no visible effect on the impassive Uchiha, however.

"She really is a spunky one, Itachi-san", Kisame laughed, his words only antagonising Hermione until she realised it was actually a compliment. "Put her out of her misery."

His partner sighed. "Perhaps if people would stop interrupting me, I could finish my explanation."

Hermione lifted her knees to her chest and rubbed her free ankle. "Go on", she told him. "I'm listening."

"As I was saying, the seal we've placed on your arm serves to regulate the amount of magic you use. At the moment it is effectively turned off, so you are indeed powerless. However, with the training that we can and will offer you, you will be granted an increased reservoir of power."

Understanding crept across Hermione's face. "So, if I'm loyal, I get more and more powerful wandless magic?"

"Correct", he confirmed.

"Want to hear the good bit?" Kisame interrupted again, causing Itachi's left eye to twitch. Seeing Hermione's attention back on him, his expression became eager. This guy seriously had a monopoly on malevolent faces, she thought a little nervously, but nodded at him to explain, which he began to do. "Well, because you aren't using a tool, you can't be disarmed, short of someone chopping your arm off." The idea of spilt blood brought his second layer of teeth into view. "In addition, we can train you to increase your physical skills."

Both would be useful, if not game changing. She would have had the shinobi training from Kakashi in any case. However, whilst she was accepting what he said, she noticed the gleam in his eye. "There's more?" she asked.

"Much, much more", he added. "We took some of your blood and analysed it whilst you were having your little nap. Turns out it's a very close match for some we found in our vault. Think you can guess who it belonged to?"

It didn't take a genius to make the connection and Hermione had been called that by a number of people, much to her annoyance. She figured if people worked a bit harder and applied themselves to study, she was certain plenty of people would be considered 'geniuses'. In any case and trying not to think at some random tangent, she felt like she was getting closer and closer to the witch, no… Sorceress would be more accurate, in her dream.

"So, next question. What do you know about her?" she asked, not dignifying Kisame's teasing question with a simple 'yes' and directing her own enquiry toward Itachi, his colleague suddenly distracted by something in his teeth and trying to get at it with the sharp half of her wand.

After looking despairingly at Kisame, who muttered something under his breath in response and sidled over to the cave entrance to get some fresh air, Itachi began to fill her in.

~oOo~

Pakkun had, to all intents and purposes, lost the scent. He was embarrassed. This hardly ever happened and when it did, it was a sign that the quarry he was tracking really didn't want to be found. His loyalty to his master had kept him looking for the trail all over the immediate area, but the longer his educated nose went without finding anything, the less likely it was that he ever would.

It didn't help that he'd been followed all the way by some irritating bird, attempting to distract him from the mission at hand. It kept tweeting at him, gliding in spirals around his head and flying to get out of reach with an angry squark whenever his patience ran out and he leapt at it.

"Shoo!" Pakkun told it.

The bluebird cocked its head at him and whistled shrilly, as if to convey annoyance.

The grumpy pug turned around and was about to head back to Kakashi when he felt a sharp pain in his back. "Argh, get off me you crazy thing", he cursed as he attempted to shake the bird from his back, tiny claws pulling at the sensitive hair and skin on his rear and flapping its wings furiously, as if trying to lift Pakkun into the air. "Okay, okay, I get it. What do you want?"

The bird, apparently satisfied with this response, hopped off down the branch they were perched on, then relocated to another, a particularly vigorous tweet aimed towards the dog.

"Do you want me to follow?"

Another tweet, this one accompanied by a whistle which sounded suspiciously like one of command from Kakashi, then the bird flew to a branch further away, still looking back. As Pakkun followed, deciding that whatever had happened to Hermione's scent, this bird was determined to show him something and he'd be damned if he was going to let the little creature attack him again. For all his ninja-dog training, he just didn't seem able to lay a paw on the tenacious thing.

Two hours of swooping and chirruping followed, his ears becoming used to the sound and now that the pug was following, a distinct decrease in the amount of attacks. The bird had buzzed him a couple of times out of playfulness and possibly to check that he was still behind it, but beyond that it seemed focused, leading him unfailingly in one direction. A direction that suddenly brought a huge dose of Hermione's smell, all in one go.

Nearly falling off the tree he'd landed on, Pakkun scrabbled to a halt in surprise and tried to blend into his surroundings, a feat which always proved quite difficult for someone who didn't exactly resemble a squirrel. The people below him, however, were too distracted with the attentions of a certain bird, who was clearly delighted to see the young woman stood at the entrance to a cave. His nose confirmed she was the witch Kakashi had sent him after, so he decided to settle down, ready to reappear at Kakashi's side instantaneously but knowing his master would appreciate as much information as he could acquire.

"Satchimo!"Hermione called out gleefully, the new arrival a tiny bundle of noise and motion as he landed on her shoulder.

Itachi didn't look impressed and Kisame didn't even look over, his attention focused solely on a message he'd received. "Satchimo?" the Uchiha asked.

"Oh, he's my pet. He's harmless incidentally, before you get any ideas about putting him under one of your nasty jutsu", she told him.

Itachi snorted. "He's too small to be a threat and believe me, if I thought he was dangerous my friend over there would soon be cooking him up."

"No need to be nasty", Hermione admonished him as Satchimo gave him his best glare. "He's a sweetie, aren't you?"

This affection clearly put the small creature at ease, although he chirruped loudly when Itachi looked in his direction. The shinobi gave him an inscrutable look in response.

"I think he likes you", the witch joked, doing her best to bring a smile. She failed.

Itachi sat down on a nearby rock and indicated she do the same. As she found herself a fallen branch, starting to enjoy the sunshine in spite of her situation, she tried to get a grip on what he had told her earlier. "So, my magical… sister, I suppose the best way to describe her is as my sister…. She worked for Akatsuki?"

"She did. The tales you've been told of her death are correct, as far as I know. However, the reasons she was outside Konoha were not down to the Village of Sand. Our organisation had its own agenda and the Sand operatives were in the wrong place at the right time. It made things very easy for us to orchestrate blame."

Hermione nodded. "I guess that's why you know so much about my skills. There must be records of all her missions"

"Indeed", Itachi answered. "We couldn't get a handle on you and you surprised us with your speed the first time we encountered you, but once we disarmed you, it was simple enough to bring you here."

Hermione had originally felt annoyed with herself for being captured so easily, but this was a very different world to the one she'd previously inhabited and she was going to have to increase her skill if she was to even survive, let alone prosper. She figured it was a little late to find a small hut and farm rice.

"I'd be very interested to see anything you have on her. Now I'm at your disposal and especially considering you've left me with very little choice, I'd like to begin as soon as possible", she told him.

Itachi sighed, slouching on his rock. He fixed her with an appraising look. "Choice, Hermione-san, is something very few of us are given."

The conversation over, Pakkun decided he'd outstayed his welcome. It would be counter-productive to have the two missing-nin discover a spy in the trees above them, so he released his own summon, returning back to Kakashi in a moment.

He found the jounin sat in the corner of the Hokage's office, a foul look on his face. As he registered the dog's presence, his expression changed to one of hope. The senior shinobi looked on in interest.

"Pakkun, what news?" Kakashi asked, interrupting the dog, who already had his mouth open. He got a grumpy look for his trouble.

"I found her with two Akatsuki about twenty miles to the West. She is unharmed and apparently in no immediate danger, although I got the impression she was being kept there against her will, with the intention to recruit her into their organisation."

Kakashi stood and glared at his superior. "Happy now?" he asked, the subject of their discussion prior to Pakkun's arrival very obvious to the ninja dog, who decided it was time to leave, doing so in a small puff of smoke.

Sarutobi was unmoved. "Kakashi, I forbid you to go after her. She is no longer a concern of Konoha."

His subordinate clenched his fists tightly and immediately stormed out of the office, his shoulder slamming through the door and leaving a dent in the newly repaired wood.

The Hokage sighed. "Why do people insist on destroying my office?" he asked to himself. "Damn youngsters never see further than in front of their nose."

Realising he was talking to himself, he summoned an aide from outside. "I want a meeting with the council and the elders immediately. Tell them its regarding our second fly in the ointment."

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Please review :)


	11. Chop, chop, Hermione

Sorry its been a couple of weeks updating. Hopefully the next chapter should be hot on the heels of this one.

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"For a mass murdering maniac, you sure have some serious skill."

The back-handed compliment, delivered earnestly from the panting witch, currently planted in the dirt with what felt like a hundred scrapes and bruises, was received with a smirk from her training partner.

"Perhaps if your friend Kakashi had spent more time sparring with you instead of staring at your ass, you'd be more competition", Itachi responded, lazily twirling a kunai between his fingers and, to Hermione's consternation, looking distinctly bored.

She glowered at him and pushed herself upright onto her knees, rubbing some muck from her tunic in an effort to recover in time for the inevitable next attack. "We didn't all get an education in how to hit people, you know?"

"Yes…", he answered, pausing for effect and slipping the weapon in his hand into a hidden sheath. "Your strength lies elsewhere and to be honest with you, a skilled shinobi would take you apart without your other gifts."

His analysis was annoyingly accurate, her sessions with both Itachi and Kakashi making her feel woefully weak. She'd considered herself a good all round fighter in her previous incarnation. Yet here, she might as well be trying to hit a shadow, for all the effect she was having on her opponent. "Perhaps you'd show me how to make the most of this damn seal, then?"

The Uchiha cracked his neck and knuckles. "I was just coming to that", he told her, the look on his face suggesting nothing about his feelings, one way or the other. "It was necessary to gauge your basic physical capabilities before opening up the seal slightly."

Hermione stood and walked over to a nearby tree stump, removing an embedded shuriken before sitting back down. "In order to ensure you can keep me caged here, no doubt?"

"Not quite", Itachi replied, his head bowed in what she assumed was frustration at her confrontational tone. "I was interested to see what you were capable of. I have enough confidence in myself that you have no means of _escape_, whether you have magic or not."

"Suitably disappointed at your _student's _abilities?"

"Again, no", he sighed at Hermione's continued emphasis of the fact she wasn't in his company by choice, then moved to her tree stump, sitting with crossed legs in front of her and scratching his stubble, deep in thought and apparently determined not to become riled by her constant jibes. "You're an exceptional novice, but a novice nonetheless. Focusing on physical combat would be akin to suicide should you encounter someone who actually wanted to kill you instead of recruit you."

Hermione met his eyes. "So you actually care if I live or die? Some sociopath you are!"

The black look of warning which came her way silenced Hermione instantly and the two of them sat in silence for a moment, her eyes never leaving Itachi's face, which, in spite of his best efforts, had shown signs of cracking from its usual impassive state.

"What do you know about Akatsuki?" he asked her, eventually.

"Only what I've been told by Kakashi", she replied carefully. "That you're a criminal organisation who employ the very worst kind of individual and that none of you have any scruples."

Itachi considered his answer. "Many of our members are indeed outcasts and not all have… scruples as you put it."

He _almost _smiled, Hermione noticed as he considered the character of his criminal compatriots.

"However, in order to understand Akatsuki, one must first understand where every member of this organisation comes from. We are all what would be described as 'missing-nin', shinobi who have left their villages through either choice or necessity", he said, before adding "or a combination of both."

Hermione looked askance at him. "You already admitted you murdered most of your family. Are you trying to shift blame by suggesting that Akatsuki is an inevitable by-product of Konoha and the other shinobi villages?"

Itachi's eyes left hers and shifted into the middle distance, pleased she'd instantly understood but gritting his teeth at her continued attacks on his character. "Again, you are correct in stating that I killed my entire clan, save for Sasuke."

Hermione thought he was struggling with something and pressed on. "It sounds like there's something you're not telling me."

"Nor will I", he answered, meeting her gaze once more and delivering the statement with a meaningful look. "I cannot return to Konoha, nor would I wish to. That is all you need to know about me. With regard to Akatsuki as an organisation, however, you should know that its aims are not always simple and straightforwardly criminal, in spite of the moral fortitude of some of its members."

Hermione scratched her head, noticing absentmindedly that she had a pine cone in her hair. "So you're asking me to consider Akatsuki as a whole, rather than the sum of its parts?"

"Indeed. Also, what you mentioned about our group being a by-product of the way our culture operates is, in my opinion, correct. There will always be an Akatsuki, or something that replaces it. Also, when one considers Konoha in comparison, one shouldn't oversimplify and say one is good and one is evil."

"This is giving me a headache", Hermione told him. It was, although she was intrigued by Itachi's efforts to sell Akatsuki to her.

Itachi simply nodded. "All I can offer, Hermione-san, is some advice. Consider where someone of your values can have the greatest effect. It may already be too late for some of us", he paused and she didn't miss the emphasis. "However, for the untainted newcomer, a position in this company can offer great power. It is up to us all to use that power in the best way we can."

Hermione realised she was gaping at Itachi, his heavy hinting unmissable and the depth of the man she'd immediately pinned as evil, very surprising to her.

"I need to give this some thought", she told him. "If I am going to commit to this path fully, I need to be able to trust you implicitly."

Itachi sighed again. "I'm afraid all I can offer you is my word as a shinobi, which, in spite of my crimes, has never been broken."

She nodded. "It's a start."

"Although, if I'm asking you to trust me, I can give you something back in return", he responded. "Our leader has an annoying habit of trying to get inside people's heads."

"More so than your good self?" she asked sarcastically.

"Even more so than my _good _self, yes. I'll show you how to manipulate your seal to allow you to shut him out. I must warn you, however, that should you try to use your new abilities to attempt any kind of mischief towards me, I am perfectly willing to put you in a state far worse than that your silver haired friend found himself in. Are we understood?"

Hermione knew to quit when she was ahead and bowed her head in acquiescence. "We are", she told him.

~oOo~

Kakashi wasn't about to ignore a direct order from his Hokage but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it, nor attempt to figure out a way around things. The only things that had hindered his thoughts were those damnable kids continually asking questions about the chunnin exams. Somehow or other, the entire generation of new Konoha genins had managed to get through the written section of the test, aided in part by the intervention of Naruto, who had managed to avoid getting thrown out long enough to send a large proportion of candidates through where previously they might have failed.

Kakashi's happiness at this had been tempered by the sudden realisation that he had completely failed to prepare the blonde and his team-mates for the second section of the exam, his expectations of their success as nonexistent as their teamwork, one or two notable incidents excepted. Unfortunately, they had been sent into the competition area regardless, their first experience of unsupervised combat ahead of them. So, there they were, in a dangerous environment without a damn thing he could do about it and only that crazy bitch Anko to ensure any kind of fair play, such as anything was considered fair in this place.

The Hokage had refused to see him again until he calmed down and paid for a craftsman to repair the door to the old man's office. Unfortunately, Kakashi's stubbornness in rejecting blame had created an impasse which was serving neither he nor Sarutobi well, the door still having a hole in it and Kakashi stuck with nothing better to do than sit around and worry impotently about Hermione and his team of young genins. After a full day or moping and stewing to himself, he figured he could use a drink, so picked up a random book from the pile on the floor and mooched off to see whether there was anywhere quiet he could hide behind the cover, get inebriated and studiously ignore everyone.

~oOo~

The seal on Hermione's arm hurt like hell as her levels of concentration threatened to falter, the cost to her energy for performing even the tiniest of spells, huge. She felt as if she was trying to make her brain make brand new connections it clearly didn't want to, her subconscious informing her in no small measure that what she was doing was completely wrong and unnatural. As she attempted to magically push the coin off the tree stump for the eight hundred and ninety-fifth time, she slumped to the floor and cursed loudly.

She glared at Itachi, who was quietly conferring with Kisame at the side of the sunny glade she was practicing in, the two of them clearly impervious to her suffering. "Thanks very much for this. I was quite happy with my borrowed wand until fish face over there decided to clean his teeth with it", she moaned, standing with her hands on her hips and her best pout on display.

Kisame also stood and turned to face her, his intimidating height enough to subdue most, yet only causing Hermione to step forward, a fierce expression crossing her sweaty features. The not so affectionate nickname had stuck after she'd seen him performing his own unique style of jutsu, taking the form of a shark and fetching the three of them, well four including Satchimo, some salmon from the nearby river.

"Little girls should learn to watch their mouths before they get beaten to death with their own dismembered limbs", he sneered back at her.

Itachi took in the stand off and sighed, his role as peacemaker between the increasingly argumentative duo causing him no end of consternation. He decided to intervene. Again. Resting a pacifying hand on the cool skin of his Akatsuki partner, he addressed Hermione. "I understand your frustrations. Your body is becoming used to a brand new way of utilising the natural magic inside you. Where previously you channelled your power through an external device, the incantation of a spell causing a reaction between your subconscious and the wand, now you must work consciously with the seal to amass an amount of … what would the word be?"

"Mana, I suppose", Hermione offered.

"Fine, a set amount of mana, within your body, which upon attaining you would then release the seal in order to cast."

Hermione pursed her lips, pulling her hair out of her eyes and tying it behind her in a makeshift ponytail as she regained her composure. "Sounds logical, but how am I supposed to get used to the way the seal works if you're only allowing me to use ten percent of its capabilities?"

"Aside from the obvious answer, which I won't patronise you with, if you had full access to the power of the seal straight away, your magic would be wild, unpredictable and dangerous. Not only to us, but to yourself as well."

She shook her head in frustration. "But at least then I would get a feel for the scale of power I had. This limiter", she pointed to the seal on her arm. "It stops me doing anything."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "You simply don't understand what I meant. The seal operates in the same way as a wand does, but it is part of your body and therefore once you've learnt how to use it properly, to change the way you generate mana, it will become a hundred times more powerful than that puny piece of wood Kisame snapped. That limiter", he took her arm and ran his finger around the spiral on her skin. "I have now turned it down to restrict you to only two percent of your overall power, yet you will still be able to cast spells at twice the level you did with your wand."

The look of comprehension as Hermione considered his words drew a cackle from Kisame. "I think she follows, Itachi-san", he told his colleague, before grinning wolfishly at her. "The problem isn't the seal, but learning how to use it. We just made you stronger than you _ever_ were, but you need to practice some more. We can't help it if you're lazy."

"Apparently where she comes from, everything comes on a plate", Itachi replied, apparently concurring with Kisame. "You think I got where I am by sitting on my backside and being naturally talented?"

Hermione gritted her teeth at them both. "Oh, don't you worry. I'll show you what I'm capable of."

Kisame licked his narrow lips. "You're cute when you're angry. It suits you", he told her, his eyes baiting her, before travelling down her torso, the clothing she wore glued to her frame with sweat and the unwelcome attention from his eyes causing her temperature to rise further.

With an angry grunt, Hermione launched herself at the big man, raising nothing but an eyebrow from Itachi as he decided to watch things unfold. Kisame's movements were slow and she closed on him quickly, aiming the heel of her palm at his nose, attempting to break it. Kisame may have been slow to respond to her approach, but as she came within range, his massive sword was suddenly swinging around and aimed vertically down towards her neck.

"Crap!" she swore as it descended, her movement towards its wielder too quick and her path unchangeable. She did the only thing she could under the circumstances and raised her hands above her head protectively, desperately trying to channel mana for the eight hundred and ninety-sixth time. As the inevitable happened, the meeting of the sword with her outstretched palms brought a crashing wave of pain to her synapses. The last thing she registered was the look of surprise on Kisame's face as she blacked out.

When Hermione came to, she was resting on a patch of grass and it was raining softly, the tiny droplets hitting her warm face in a pleasantly cooling way. She felt incredibly serene, yet completely unable to move. She heard Satchimo's sharp tweets what seemed like a huge distance away and tried to open her eyelids, which were so incredibly heavy she almost gave up, before forcing them up and over eyes which smarted from the bright sunlight, mixing with the raindrops in a million colours. She tried to speak. "Merlin's beard, what just happened?"

"Ah, you're back with us, I see", the familiar monotone of Itachi's voice filtered through the rain almost directly into her brain. Weird. She could also hear a scraping sound coming from the rocks across the clearing and turned her head to see Kisame trying desperately to hang on to his sword, which seemed to have a mind of its own and was scratching its way toward her in a snakelike fashion over the ground, before being wrenched back by its sulking owner.

"I…. I… Umm", Hermione muttered, before sitting up with a monumental effort and looking at her hands, which were currently tingling like she'd never felt before. They were swathed in bandages.

"A precaution", Itachi told her. "There was a little burn damage to the palms of your hands, which we cured with some medical jutsu, but you're otherwise absolutely fine. I wish I could say the same for my partner. It appears that you aren't the only one to worry about the loss of a magical device."

Kisame, his battle with his sword across the clearing becoming more and more heated, decided to give up, the creepy blade skittering towards Hermione, where it laid a fraction away from her, shaking and emitting a low keening sound, as if wanting to be petted. Hermione looked appealingly toward Itachi, who shrugged. He wasn't the only one lost for words, Satchimo now perched on her shoulder and looking suspiciously at the sword, which was now making sniffing sounds as it got closer and closer to Hermione.

"Looks like Samehada likes your chakra, or mana, or whatever it is that caused you to block him from chopping you in two", the Uchiha told her.

Hermione gave the sword an incredulous look, torn between revulsion and confusion, before sighing and laying back gently on the ground. Might as well just rest here for a while….

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Please review :)


	12. Awakening?

I was in something of a curious mood when penning this chapter, which will no doubt come across as you get further down. The plot... She thickens ;)

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It had been two full days since the preliminary match ups prior to the main chuunin tournament. During the second stage of the chuunin exams, Kakashi had been far too occupied with his students to even begin to think about a certain witch, upon the tests completion sending Naruto off to train his basic skills with Ebisu and consoling Sakura after her own exit. To her credit the young kunoichi had handled herself with no small amount of guts and character, her feelings of insecurity and low self worth at least temporarily forgotten, in spite of the fact she'd be remaining a genin for another year.

As far as Naruto was concerned, the blonde brat caused everyone who watched him to exist in a state of constant surprise, although Kakashi mused that the only thing that was consistently surprising was when Naruto failed to surprise!

What worried Kakashi most was the boy he and the Hokage had been discussing at length. Uchiha Sasuke was more or less recovered from his battle in the arena, although the arrival of Orochimaru and the action Kakashi had been forced to take in preventing the snake sannin and his Hidden Sound cohort, Kabuto, from kidnapping the talented youngster, was a constant concern.

So, now he had just under a month to condition Sasuke and work with him to get him through the main event, not to mention helping him with the effects of Orochimaru's cursed seal. During one of his quiet, reflective sessions at the bedside of his student, Kakashi had begun to think up a rather neat idea.

~oOo~

"Kakashi-sensei… Exactly where are we headed?" Sasuke asked, the pair of them walking out of Konoha and laden with a variety of provisions and training equipment.

Kakashi continued walking and scanned the horizon, as if reluctant to tell his companion. "You and I are taking a little trip away from the bright lights of your home town. Away from enquiring eyes and the influence of the one who gave you those bite marks on your neck."

"You wouldn't happen to be planning on looking for Hermione-sama, would you?"

The question was left hanging in the air as Kakashi gritted his teeth, expecting the enquiry but not the respectful tone in which it was made. He stopped and faced Sasuke. "I wouldn't expect you to like it, but yes, should we happen to bump into Hermione, we have some unfinished business. That isn't the sole purpose of this little jaunt, however."

Sasuke smirked. "I thought your orders were not to look for her?"

"Who said we were looking for her? If we happen to come across her on our random trip into the countryside, then who am I to forego a conversation?"

Sasuke merely shook his head, but beyond that decided to keep his own counsel. Kakashi considered that wise, his patience for questions very low. He wasn't about to let a personal vendetta of a subordinate get in the way of what he considered an injustice, orders or no orders.

From the brief time he had spent with Hermione, he considered her to be intelligent, resourceful and entirely capable of looking after herself. That didn't mean, however, that she should be at the mercy of the whims of a few old men. In his meetings with the Hokage, he had got the impression that Sarutobi had a greater purpose for Hermione, besides a simple banishment for being a little different and upsetting the apple cart. Grudgingly, he admitted to himself that although habitually capable of using people as pawns, his superior did have the best interests of the village at heart and although he would never admit it, had allowed Kakashi free rein to disappear for a month with Sasuke with the full knowledge that the jounin could and probably would seek out the exile. That didn't mean Kakashi wouldn't have to deal with the consequences if he did find her and something went spectacularly wrong, however. This is why he would never wish to be in charge. Too many headaches and too much responsibility. Much easier to be the blade than be accountable as the person wielding it, he figured.

So it was that a commonly appreciated silence began between he and Sasuke, the quiet only interrupted by intermittent queries about one thing or another, the genin greeting his training with customary stoicism and hard work. That suited Kakashi very well, his own thoughts focused on one thing. In a way he was grateful it was Sasuke here with him and not someone more talkative. Had it been Naruto keeping him company, the two of them would never have got past the first line of trees, Kakashi inclined to tell the constantly chattering boy to shut up at every opportunity. Sasuke did remind him of his younger self in that respect, although his introspection coming for different reasons than Kakashi's.

As he watched the Uchiha smoothly complete another exercise from the corner of his eye, Kakashi continued to think about Hermione, wondering what it was she was doing now.

~oOo~

It turned out, much to everyone's relief, that Samehada's disloyalty was only restricted to when Hermione's magic exploded into life, the excitement of the blade now bringing guffaws of delight from Kisame as Hermione never failed to recoil from its own particular brand of affection.

Those same magical explosions were becoming less and less frequent as she finally began to get to grips with her mana control, watched carefully from a distance by Itachi, whose interested gaze fell on Hermione more and more regularly now she was becoming more accomplished at controlling the bursts of energy coming from her palms.

"Hermione, come here. I want to check something", he told her, the look on his face thoughtful.

She made her way over to where he was sitting and waited for further instructions, the days spent getting to know the two missing-nin leading her not to question Itachi when he asked something of her, especially when _that _look crossed his face. She'd also found that he had a habit of simply grunting at her when he didn't want to respond to her constant interrogation, so her questions had eventually dried up, even when he didn't look so intense.

Itachi reached over and took both her hands in his, then activated his Sharingan. As she stepped back instinctively, his hands gripped hers firmly. "Don't worry", he instructed. "I'm just interested as to whether you can use your magic to block out my jutsu."

"A little warning would have been nice", Hermione groaned, although secretly she'd been waiting for an opportunity to try the same out for herself. She'd found that simple energy transference was becoming straightforward and that she could now reliably project a wave of force in front of her with very little effort. What really pleased her was that she could now change the speed and breadth of the wave, in addition to the unlikely side effect of changing its colour. She'd been pushing coins off tree stumps with rainbows of sparkling light, accompanied by chirps of delight from Satchimo. This, however, was different and she wondered how the seal would affect her leglimency abilities.

"Remain calm", Itachi instructed and Hermione instantly felt his presence push at the boundaries of her mind as his deep red eyes bored into her own, initially clumsily as he felt around the edges of her consciousness, then more assured and forceful as he became familiar with the pathways her thoughts travelled down. She felt a strong desire to push back, to close the bridges and tunnels he was crafting, but instead she allowed him to meander through, pleased that she could detect his presence but at the same time not knowing what she was capable of, the power of the seal an unknown quantity, not to mention wanting to see how strong Itachi was.

She was suddenly transported to an empty plain, her confusion immediately replaced by customary understanding as she realised Itachi had created a place inside her mind where they could communicate.

"Something tells me you've done this a few times", Hermione told him, as detail began to fill into the landscape. She raised an eyebrow at the torched and blackened trees and the sound of the crows cawing above them. "You might make it a bit more cheery, though."

The Itachi in her head, swathed in a sharp black and crimson cloak, waved an encompassing hand at their surroundings. "I'm afraid its my most practiced scene. People tend to feel less comfortable than if it was fluffy bunnies and sunny, blue skies."

That was the first time she'd heard Itachi make a joke, although the humour was dark, the people placed under this particular jutsu previously having absolutely nothing to be happy about. She shivered as she remembered what Kakashi had told her of his experiences and any feelings of control and safety left her as she realised that this man was capable of dishing out terrible mental torture.

Hermione was suddenly surprised to note that where before she'd been clothed in a pair of comfortable, borrowed combat style trousers and a tunic, now she was wearing a very expensive looking silk dress, the neck high yet cut open at the front and revealing a good deal of her cleavage, which she couldn't fail to note was promoted further by what felt like a highly engineered, yet surprisingly comfortable bra. The soft material of the dress, with a very fetching blue and silver dragon detail and trim, fit snugly around her torso and hips and stopped several inches shy of her knees, which, when she looked further down, saw were covered by lacy hold ups, the outfit finished with a pair of silver heels to die for.

"I trust this was your idea? This outfit has nothing to do with me", Hermione quizzed Itachi through narrowed eyes, the man stood opposite her busy appraising his handiwork. He began to look intense again and she wondered why. "Does this have anything to do with my training?" she asked him, the tone of her question demanding a quick response.

"Not quite. More a weakness on my part", Itachi told her. He was quiet for a moment before continuing. "You are a beautiful woman and life with Kisame is not exactly filled with excitement of that kind."

Hermione bit her bottom lip. "I see", she offered, hesitantly.

"I'm sorry. If you wish to return to your old garments?"

"Wait", she said. "Much as this is an imposition, you do have excellent taste."

He did indeed. It may have only been an imagined scene, but it felt completely real to her and the longer she wore this dress, the better she felt. She felt… sexy, which was weird considering her company. Although now that she thought about it, Itachi was almost as handsome as Kakashi and the longer she spent with the quiet shinobi, the more comfortable she had become. It wasn't beyond the realms of possibility, was it?

"You look deep in thought", Itachi informed her, breaking her reverie.

'Practical Hermione' reasserted herself. "Right, yes. We were supposed to be trying to see how I adapt to your invasive techniques, not discussing whether I look good in this dress."

"You're blushing."

"You're not helping", she shot back. What the Hell was wrong with her? This man had killed his entire family, kidnapped her and here she was acting like a teenager in front of him, unable to conduct even a vaguely sensible discussion. Why was she staring at his (admittedly very nice) naked stomach? Why was he not wearing a top? Had she done that?

Itachi seemed as shocked as Hermione was at this turn of events, his control over their environment not as absolute as he thought it was. Hermione felt him quickly trying to withdraw from her mind, but immediately thought to herself, "No, not yet."

She could now feel tangible panic from Itachi as she closed off every single path his consciousness attempted to retreat down. The power she felt was the first true sense of control she had felt over someone since she'd arrived here in this curious place, the rogue ninja's previously unsurpassed jutsu now coming under fire from an unknown quantity in Hermione, the liberty he'd taken with her clothes the only licence she needed to run rampant over the part of himself he'd left in her mind.

As she closed off the last avenue, she felt the seal empowering her leglimency to the extent she could now begin to adapt to and alter Itachi's creations. Hermione slammed the final door shut, then felt him mentally wheel back toward her with an almost feral snarl, the world he'd created shifting around them as he tried to regain what he'd lost and she repelling every attempt.

"Now, how does it feel to be on the other side?" she asked the reeling man, holding her ground against his relentless probing and attempts to panic her into losing her grip on this plane, crows swooping about them and dive bombing her, she dispelling them before they even got close.

"Let… me…. _out_", he ordered through teeth which were clearly grating together, the situation apparently beyond his ability to extract himself and the unexpected terror he felt at losing all his abilities growing exponentially.

Hermione wasn't about to do that, not with all this power pulsing through her body, her skin feeling as though it was shimmering with light and all her pleasure points tingling, her breath becoming ragged and heavy as she began to feel a sense of primal urgency, a carnal need she'd never experienced before. Except… Where the hell had it come from? Itachi's jutsu? Her own reaction to it? All that she cared about now was that there was a man in front of her and that she desperately needed to be satisfied. Oh, crap.

With a high pitched moan, she moved toward Itachi and created a wall behind him, stopping his escape, before grabbing the shocked man by the neck with both hands and dragging his face toward hers, her lips crushing his as she kissed him, hard.

The scene suddenly shifted, much to Hermione's confusion. She found herself bound to the leather chair in the cave she'd been imprisoned in a few days previously, this time with her wrists and ankles firmly secured.

"This is my backup plan", the voice behind her said, the owner indisputably Itachi and yet the tone very calm and controlled. What hadn't changed was what she was wearing, or the runaway feeling she was going to explode from the wild torrents of what felt like electricity pounding her senses and making her want to jump the owner of that voice.

"Help… _meeee?_" she begged the man stood behind her, the final word coming out as a shriek as she felt another pulse of pleasure hammer against the heart of her, causing her to clench her thighs together, her dress riding up high and her muscles quivering and spasming.

As he stood in front of her, Itachi couldn't fail to understand her meaning, nor the fact that rain was starting to fall in the cave, also that the cave had become a street in a place he didn't recognise, the architecture unfamiliar and the dark sky lending the scene a foreboding air.

"I can't control it", Hermione told him, her hair beginning to stick to her face as the rain fell heavily around them, the dress providing little protection and rapidly becoming soaked through, Itachi's cloak faring no better. "You need to get us out of this jutsu before I explode…nnnnnnngh."

Itachi attempted the release, but to no effect, Hermione's subconscious mind in seeming control of her conscious thoughts, her feelings at the moment she lost control those of lust and the need for sexual gratification. She groaned aloud and the bindings attaching her to the chair whipped off into the air, one of them narrowly missing Itachi as the end of the rope flew past his face.

He gave Hermione an apologetic look as she shuffled her bum towards him, her skirt riding up over her knickers, the dampness between her legs a mixture of the rain and her own excitement. The Uchiha was unable to take his eyes off the way her body, clearly in need, was offered. As he felt his own arousal stirring, he moved towards her, her legs parted and he knelt in between them, cloak dropped on the wet floor and his torso available to her hands, which moved over the hard muscles of his stomach, both Hermione's and Itachi's eyes following the paths her fingertips traced over and around the perfectly defined flesh. His own hands moved to caress her face and to pull the sodden hair away from her soft features, she taking two of his fingers greedily into her mouth as they passed her open lips, toying with them with her tongue and moaning aloud, her efforts on his chest and stomach now directed towards gentle scratching.

Itachi looked deep into Hermione's glazed eyes. "This really wasn't what I had planned."

"Shut up and shag me, you idiot", she mocked him, all inhibitions gone and the thought of any consequences left for later. As she pulled him in for another kiss, Hermione thought to herself that if it worked and she regained her senses, this had to be the oddest way to dispel a jutsu, and wondered with a grin what Sasuke would think.

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Please review :)


	13. Mind games

Hi all.

Two of my lovely reviewers described my my last chapter as hot. This one expands on that. 'Normal service' will be resumed next time :)

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The rain continued to fall on Hermione and Itachi, her eyes feasting on the ripples of water running down his chest and stomach, the motion of his breathing only serving to heighten the effect of the appealing sheen on his skin. Hermione herself was giving off steam, the heat radiating from her causing the air above to condense and shift in the mixture of hot and cold.

They sat like that for what seemed to Hermione like an eternity, Itachi content to let her explore his upper body and, temporarily at least, the almost excruciating sexual need she'd felt moments before dissipating slightly, as if her subconscious had relinquished complete control and was now waiting to indulge itself in this experience, allowing her some little amount of say in what was happening.

Itachi caressed her face, ensuring none of the deluge got in her eyes as she watched the path of her fingertips and apparently now more than happy to entertain her, his part in this situation initially unwilling, yet the longer she played with his skin, the greater she could feel his own desire mounting.

To her surprise and amusement, Itachi summoned up a tie for her hair and slipped it into place before she even knew what he was doing, soliciting a grin from Hermione, who appreciated the way her impossible locks, at risk of getting in the way, had been so neatly controlled by the dextrous and apparently considerate shinobi. For his part, Itachi had feared his suddenly shaking fingers, getting colder and subject to messages from his brain which was trying to deal with far too much at once, wouldn't be up to the task, but years of training in the handling of weapons and other ninja tools enabled him not to screw up the gesture.

As he reached around to finish the job, wringing out her increasingly drenched and tangled hair before allowing the strands of her new ponytail to fall against her back, she felt his breath on her upper neck, the heat from his mouth making her skin tingle as his lips passed the sensitive spot under her left ear, tiny goosebumps reaching out as if to be touched and causing Hermione to involuntarily tilt her head to one side, exposing her skin to his mouth in a silent demand.

Itachi wasn't about to pass up such an invitation, deftly flicking open the button at the top of Hermione's dress with a free hand, before slowly drawing the top of the garment to one side, his heavy breath on her neck and collarbone making her grit her teeth and moan aloud, reinforcing the order her open posture demanded. With a growing confidence, Itachi planted one tiny kiss on the taut skin of her neck, sending waves of shivers right the way down her spine.

"Oh God", Hermione gasped aloud in English, a bolt of lightning illuminating the sky and letting her clearly see the face of her lover, which had been partially shrouded in the darkness her subconscious had created. "Don't stop… doing… that", she ordered, her words coming out in little breaths as Itachi's efforts on her intensified, causing her eyelids to flutter as his lips nipped and kissed her, his attention moving upwards over her face, inexorably toward her mouth, which was partially open, ready to receive.

Itachi took her bottom lip between his own, alternating between gently biting it and sucking lightly, all the while stroking the exposed skin of her neck and collarbone, his right index finger moving toward and then inside the open front of Hermione's dress, finding the lacy strap of her bra and teasingly following the edge of the material up to her shoulder, before working his way back down as slowly as he could bear. As Hermione moved her own arms to allow him easier access, Itachi's progress was curtailed by his kneeling position and the constraints of the dress, the tailored tight fit providing little manoeuvring room and Itachi unwilling to tear his creation.

After his progress was stopped, Hermione began to lose patience and began to take control, forcefully freeing her lip from his ministrations and attempting to dictate the kiss, her tongue finding its way into his unresisting mouth, where it was met with a playful partner in Itachi's, the two intertwining as he cupped Hermione's face with his hands and returned the aggressive kiss with interest, finding his partner greeting him with a sudden shift forward with her bottom and lifting her strong legs in a pincer movement around his thighs, the dress, the skirt of which was already around her waist, providing no resistance.

This was not an ideal position for Itachi, only his great core strength and the grip of his feet on the edge of the chair cushion preventing the unbalanced pair from collapsing forward in an undignified heap. In response to Hermione's movement, he grabbed her by the buttocks and heaved his weight backwards until he was stood upright, Hermione shuffling up his body and trying her best not to break what was becoming a very enjoyable kiss, the two of them grunting with a mixture of primal need and exertion.

Hermione was pleased to note that Itachi, if not as aroused as she was in her heightened state, clearly felt stimulated by the whole encounter. As she let him support her weight with his grip, she began to grind against the hardness in his trousers, each shift up and down causing the two of them to moan and pant in between kissing, Itachi breaking off to attack her neck again, this time with more urgency as the stimulation, the rubbing back and forth against the cloth and the weight of Hermione causing all sorts of new problems to his co-ordination.

She was disappointed when, with no apparent warning, his confidence suddenly waned.

He broke off the kiss. "Wait", he said, his expression conflicted. "This is the first in a very long time."

He got an evil look for his trouble. "You're saying this now? Well, technically, we aren't having sex, so you should probably shut up and go with it."

"But…?" he queried.

"But what?" Hermione groaned, maintaining her grinding and enjoying herself far too much to let this little interruption stop her fun.

Itachi seemed to be having trouble forming the next sentence, his gaze shifting from the middle distance to Hermione's heaving cleavage and back again. He appeared to her to come to some sort of acceptable conclusion and she beamed at him.

"Look, stop worrying", she stated. "Do I look like a woman who isn't enjoying herself?"

Itachi had to admit that she did indeed look like she was enjoying herself, although the animalistic look in her eyes actually intimidated the crap out of him, and this was probably the thing which bothered him the most. This, however, was compensated for by the fact that the rest of her was begging him to take her. Fine.

"First of all, Hermione-san, I need to get you out of these wet clothes", he announced. With a theatrical click of his fingers, the scene changed again.

~oOo~

"Well, this _is_ unexpected, Kakashi-senpai", Kisame said. He was sat on a tree stump in the clearing Pakkun had told Kakashi about with his back to them. Kakashi gave Sasuke a menacing look, as if to suggest that he was the one who had alerted the missing-nin. Sasuke merely shrugged in response.

Kisame still had his back turned and began scratching what Kakashi assumed to be an imaginary itch on his back, his hands only centimetres away from that brutish sword he carried. "Oh, don't worry, we knew you'd come, although we weren't expecting two of you."

Kakashi figured he'd play Kisame's game and spoke from the bushes he and Sasuke were hiding in. "How did you know we were here? No, wait, I can guess."

"Your little friend triggered a trip wire we set up at the perimeter. I've been watching you coming from a mile away", Kisame responded, finally deigning to turn and speak to, well, a bush. "Do come out. I don't like talking to plants."

Kakashi nodded in affirmation to Sasuke and they exited the foliage, the three of them sizing each other up. "You were expecting him?" Sasuke asked. "Why?"

"Your sensei has quite the bounty on his head. We knew that if we waited here long enough, we'd be seeing our bank balances swell. He's quite the loyal one, aren't you?"

The question, directed towards the senior of the two, was received with a sneer behind the mask. "You really think I'm that predictable?"

"We know what Hermione-san thinks of you and we calculated that those feelings would most likely be reciprocated. Besides, you're here aren't you?"

"You have Hermione-sama?" Sasuke asked, a fierce expression crossing his face. Kakashi looked at him curiously. Where had this sudden interest in Hermione come from? The thought soon passed, consigned as academic. He grimaced inwardly as he wondered what Sasuke would think when he realised that 'we' meant Kisame and Itachi, the exiled Konoha ninja yet to appear. In his selfish desire to hunt down Hermione, he'd completely neglected to consider the probable fireworks that were about to follow between them. Also, now he was here, that it had been a pretty dumb idea to come without some more reliable backup. He sighed. This was why shinobi couples never worked out. The risk of death was high enough without clouding the mind with issues like this. He knew this before he met Hermione, so why the hell was he stood here?

Kisame waited before answering, his brow becoming furrowed as he appraised Kakashi's companion. "Hey kid", he nodded toward Sasuke. "You look familiar. Do I know you?"

Sasuke smirked, giving Kisame a self assured look, which his superior raised his eyes at. The confidence of youth clearly hadn't been eroded by his experiences in the chuunin exams. "Uchiha Sasuke. Who are you?"

Kakashi decided to interject before Kisame could make things worse, giving the man stood opposite, standing with a look of malevolent delight on his face, a look of warning. "This is Hoshigaki Kisame, a former ninja of Kirigakure and one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist." He noticed Sasuke had become paler than Kisame. "He is now an S rank missing-nin and member of the criminal organisation, Akatsuki. Right, Kisame?"

Both rows of his pointed teeth showing, Kisame grinned evilly, the effect of which was causing Sasuke to gape. "I'm glad to see my reputation is intact, wouldn't want to fade away."

Kakashi rested a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and tried to give the young genin a kind look, his own heart betraying his mixed feelings and glad for the mask. "Sasuke, I need you to go back the way we came and keep an eye out for any trouble that comes our way. If you encounter anything, send up a flare."

His subordinate looked shocked, but nodded numbly and immediately somersaulted backward onto a branch, before spinning and propelling himself upward into the trees.

"Now", Kakashi said. "Where's Hermione?"

~oOo~

Hermione's physical body was stood not twenty metres from where Kakashi and Kisame were faced off, but her mind was a long way away. Completely unaware of the new arrival, she was far too busy in Itachi's jutsu, the elder Uchiha having no idea who was managing what and in the very unfamiliar position of taking Hermione's, well, anyone's lead in escaping from the world he'd created for them. His partner, wondering what the clicking sound underneath her bottom was as Itachi had supported her with just one hand, an impressive feat considering how muscled she'd become, gasped aloud at the new scene Itachi had created for them.

"How did you know?" she asked him, the two of them looking around the bedroom she'd grown up in.

Itachi shrugged. "I found it when you let me into your mind. Before things got… sexy."

Hermione suddenly looked melancholy. "Its where I feel safest", she muttered, almost to herself. "Where I retreat in my mind when I don't want to let anyone in. That door", she pointed to the entrance to her room. "I can seal it with enough force to stop even the strongest wizards or witches getting in. Why I trusted you with it, I have no idea."

"You aren't the only one with skill, you know", Itachi chastised her, Hermione very aware that the man stood holding her had begun to radiate confidence again. She didn't know whether to feel intimidated or… aroused, the effect of her new environment on her libido only temporary, her subconscious mind attempting to reassert itself and fill her with strength and fire, which, as Itachi stared into her eyes, was manifesting itself inside her again at an alarming rate.

"Oh, crap", she cursed again as she almost involuntarily squeezed her thighs around the game ninja, trying to suppress her urges with little success.

"We're going to have to get this done, I suspect", he countered, for some reason still not grinning like an idiot, as most men would be faced with an insatiable woman glued to their crotch, but the mischief in his voice all too apparent.

Hermione grunted in reply and moved to kiss him again, this time with all the subtlety of a kunai in the face, but he dodged her and dropped her bottom from his grasp, making sure she was still attached by her arms so she didn't collapse on the floor with the high heels he'd crafted for her, running his hands over her sides for good measure as she descended and enjoying the feel of the expensive material of the dress, glad that he'd taken all the moisture out of the garment and indeed Hermione's hair when he'd shifted the scene. As her feet touched the floor, he spun her until she was stood with her back to him.

She had tried to resist the movement, but Itachi's superior strength prevailed. Now she could see why he'd done it. In front of her was the full length mirror she'd always spent hours agonising in front of, her pre-pubescent body a far cry from the woman who now stood in front of it, her hands roving behind her to seek out what pleasure she could obtain from the man in her bedroom.

Itachi's own hands were also busy, apparently happy to continue to tease her, yet this time at a pace which was more palatable to the desperate witch, her attention on his groin now not only restricted to the grinding he'd encountered before, but also to playful rubbing through the material of his trousers with her shaking fingers. Hermione's dress, already undone at the neck, was now unzipped at the back and drawn slowly over her shoulders, followed by kisses from Itachi, whose hands jerked periodically as she hit a particularly sensitive area, all the time peering around her back into the mirror to see the silk peel away from her skin. She watched his eyes become as hungry as her own as the garment came down over her elbows and chest, exposing her bra and eliciting a happy sigh from Itachi as the glory of her cleavage came fully into view. He then worked it down over her hips and thighs, her body gyrating softly in assistance as it fell, before allowing it to pool at her feet.

They both devoured the view in the mirror before them. Hermione had never seen herself looking so good, so… hot. The lingerie Itachi had clad her in was as detailed and pretty as the dress had been sexy and figure hugging. The electric blue and silver trim of both the bra and knickers matched the garment which she was now busy trying to extract her feet from. She didn't have that much time to admire herself as Itachi unclasped her bra, his hands underneath the back straps and Hermione feeling his touch moving sideways, one hand going left and the other right as they both drew the lacy material away, his movements bringing a low and feral moan from his partner as she felt him nipping and kissing the flesh of her back.

As Itachi's fingertips brushed the side of her breasts in unison, she watched him take her loose shoulder straps in his teeth and, one by one, allow them to fall down her arms. The top of her bosom was now exposed, only Itachi himself supporting the bra, his fingers now exploring the underside of her chest, now flushed a very bright red and heaving with desire.

He brushed the tip of her left nipple and Hermione groaned loudly, before gasping as he covered the right with his palm and squeezed her breast gently, she responding to his touch with a circular motion of her bottom into him as the sensitive bud hardened into his hand. Bringing her arms to her side, Hermione allowed her bra to fall away before hooking her thumbs into the edge of Itachi's trousers and underwear, pulling them down slowly until she, crouched at his feet in only her panties and high heels, saw his penis spring free, the sight as pleasing as the trembling muscles of his torso above it.

Feeling the most lascivious she had ever been and now in no mood to mess about, Hermione turned and pushed Itachi backwards onto her single bed, displacing more than one cuddly bunny in the process as her lover's legs became tangled up in his clothes.

"Stop moving, unless you're gonna do something useful", she commanded. Itachi just nodded and stared, his gaze the most intense anyone had ever given her. A night for firsts then, she thought to herself as she slid her damp knickers off in front of him, before climbing onto the bed, heels and all.

Itachi, his legs half hanging off the base of the mattress, started to shift his frame upwards until his head was resting on Hermione's pillow, all the while taking in the tone of her legs in the blue stockings and the way they tapered up to reach the trimmed 'v' at the base of her stomach. Hermione followed him on her hands and knees, drawing off what remained of his clothes to leave him completely naked, her tongue retracing the route her fingers and nails had taken on his stomach and chest, until she finally knelt with her face millimetres above his. Both of them were breathing heavily as he waited for her to have her way.

"So, Uchiha Itachi", she narrowed her eyes at him mockingly. "I bet you didn't expect your jutsu ever to be used _this _way, did you?"

Hermione tossed back her hair, took the unanswering Itachi in her hand and sank on top of him, his erect member sliding inside her wet lips easily, a shared moan growing and growing, building quickly as the foreplay which had preceded the act was replaced by a sense of the inevitable, Hermione grinding against the base of Itachi's stomach and heading towards a climax she knew was going to be huge, her body so alive and the warmth spreading from inside her driving her movements on and on…

...and on until she could move no more, her eyes closed tight and her mouth open in a silent scream as she felt Itachi's body tense, their shared orgasm thundering in her brain and the waves of pleasure hitting her hard, her fingers akin to claws raking at her partner's flesh and her thighs clamped tight around his, before it gradually ebbed away, Hermione breathing in little gasps, the room spinning around them as she finally felt her subconscious relinquishing control back to Itachi. She wasn't sure quite how she knew it had happened, but as she looked at him, he sighed and caressed the side of her face in understanding. She almost expected a smile, before remembering who he was, but what followed wasn't expected. Itachi looked to one side with hostility in his eyes, then with an apologetic glance back toward her, the room was gone and she was back in the glade.

After getting her bearings, not to mention surprised she was standing fully clothed and with no physical memory of what had just occurred in her head, Hermione looked quizzically towards Itachi. "What…", she began, but he curtailed her.

"We have a visitor."

She looked to where his eyes were pointing her and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh…."

* * *

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	14. Brotherly love

Enjoy!

* * *

Satchimo flapped his little wings furiously as he sensed the discomfort of his mistress, the bluebird hopping up and down on top of a low hanging branch and chirruping as loudly as he could.

Hermione, barely aware of her manic familiar, could only chew her bottom lip in anxiety as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her.

"Sasuke", she managed eventually. "If you're here, then Kakashi must b…"

The young Uchiha cut her off. "He's a little busy, Hermione-sama", he told her, never taking his eyes off the man stood beside her, with what she couldn't help noticing was a hand on her arm that could be interpreted as either protective or possessive.

The look of malevolence Sasuke was directing towards his older brother was of greater significance at this moment in time, however.

Hermione glanced toward Itachi, who was meeting the eyes of his sibling with a very curious expression she'd never seen before. "What do you mean, busy?" she asked.

"Busy with my murdering bastard of a brother's weirdo friend", Sasuke spat, Hermione noting an obvious shiver, the boy in this unexpected position doing his best to shake it off. She conceded that Kisame did have that effect on people, her own interactions with the shark ninja kept to a minimum in favour of his more stable partner.

"So why, little brother, are you not off helping him?" Itachi asked. The question, to the three of them stood in the small clearing, was rhetorical, each person understanding Sasuke's reaction to the sight of his family's betrayer. It was clearly less of a query than a tactic, designed to leave Sasuke in two minds, questioning his loyalty to his sensei, not to mention his sanity in the face of overwhelmingly low odds of success should he actually attempt to attack.

The sound of far away battle, somewhat muffled due to the screeches of Satchimo, reinforced Itachi's point but to his credit, Sasuke didn't flinch. "The last time I looked Kakashi was doing fine", he told Itachi, his tone now low and controlled, the genin clearly trying to keep calm. "I'm sure he'd be _grateful _for your concern."

Hermione was at a loss for what to do, the face off between the brothers, one of whom was staring with quite justifiable hate at the other, who to complicate things she'd just had the best sex of her life with. A few days earlier she'd have leapt to the defence of the younger of the two, in spite of his bad attitude towards her, but now, having spent a little time with Itachi, she really couldn't marry up the man who had murdered his entire clan with the actually quite shy and thoughtful lover she'd encountered minutes ago.

Sasuke, the impact of his decision to confront his brother beginning to lessen and finding himself with choices to make, narrowed his eyes as he shifted his glare from Itachi's eyes and down to his side, where his hand was now squeezing Hermione's arm. The fact she was probably looking extremely guilty and conscious of her proximity to him didn't help. "Hermione-sama… What are you doing with _him_?" he managed.

Hermione sighed and tried to remove her arm from Itachi's grasp, freeing it at the second attempt after she reinforced the first with a sharp stamp on the elder Uchiha's toes. The look which passed between them spoke volumes as he took the blow, her eyes threatening him with more if he didn't keep his mouth shut.

"That, Sasuke, is private", she told him sternly, the stare she gave him daring him to press the matter. "You should probably be more concerned with why the Hokage saw fit to boot me out of your precious village, although", and this was added with venom. "You no doubt had a hand in that."

"I-I am sorry for that", Sasuke stammered, his early composure quickly retreating in the face of the verbal attack from the person who he'd hoped would be an ally in the moments it had taken him to leap from his lofty perch and confront his brother. "I was… angry."

Hermione pressed her advantage. "Just because you were angry with me does not give you the right to try and dictate my life. The whole world does _not _revolve around Uchiha Sasuke."

"I know", he answered, although his eyes were flickering back and forth between her and Itachi, the latter now looking on thoughtfully as he watched the flame in Sasuke's eyes rapidly going out and being replaced by embarrassment as she showed him up in front of the subject of his hatred.

"So, what now, Sasuke?" she asked him, putting the ball firmly back in his court and standing with her arms folded across her chest.

The boy opposite simply glowered, almost lost in his own indecision, his anger at his brother very much still evident but his desire for self preservation and his chagrin holding sway.

"He still isn't ready", she heard Itachi say sadly, but when she looked at him, then back to Sasuke, it was as if neither had noticed the words coming out of his mouth.

If indeed they had, she thought to herself, before running her finger absentmindedly over her lips and wondering… what if?

The look of shock on Itachi's face confirmed her suspicions as she focused for a second, then transmitted her thoughts straight to him, the question, "Ready for what?" bypassing his ears entirely and going directly into his brain.

The closing of his mind and subsequent push she felt in return was a clear enough answer, although her delight at this new ability overrode her annoyance that he hadn't responded to her probing. That, she could put down to surprise and a natural reaction. Turning to face Itachi, she flashed him a triumphant look, which he duly ignored, his face back to its customary inscrutability after the momentary blip.

"Ready to face me", he answered aloud, the unexpected comment causing Sasuke to look up and into the eyes of his elder brother in confusion, which was all the encouragement Itachi needed to activate his Tsukuyomi.

~oOo~

"Face me, you Konoha coward!" roared Kisame, stood in the open with all the brazen confidence of a man who knew he had his opponent on the run.

Kakashi wasn't about to do anything of the sort, the behemoth facing him easily a match for his skills one on one and feeling very sensible hiding in the trees. What he needed was a plan, and fast. Having backtracked toward Sasuke and wishing that he'd kept his protégé closer to hand, he was surprised to find no trace of the young genin. When he'd ordered him to keep watch, he'd assumed the boy would have the good sense to stay within range, not disappear off somewhere. Cursing the impudence of his charge, he sat back on his haunches and grinned. What Kisame lacked wasn't strength, it was subtlety, something Kakashi had in abundance, at least as far as combat was concerned. He wished he could say the same about his skill with women.

Purposefully stepping on a loose twig and breaking it loudly, he left a replacement in the shadows of the tree in which he was sheltering, ready for the inevitable approach of the sword wielding maniac he was attempting to fool. It didn't take long for the undergrowth to part and Kisame's legs, broader than the trunks of the saplings which lay broken and shredded in his wake, crash through. As the shadow of his clone danced away from the determined ninja, Kakashi made his escape, leaving a set of smoke bombs in his wake to further disorient him.

The path he and Kisame had taken into the forest had taken him a good distance away from where he'd initially met the missing-nin. He counted on that distance to utilise his extra speed, every second the clone bought him giving him an advantage when it came to the expected fight against Itachi and the rescue of Hermione. Kakashi knew that he, especially in this slightly battered state after the skirmish with Kisame, would have to be fast and lethal against the Uchiha, otherwise the skilled exile would have too much for him. He couldn't rely on Sasuke, although that had been the reason he'd left him behind in the first place, knowing that the discovery of his brother would only make the bitter boy a hindrance. Only Hermione presented him with the unknown. What would she do when he arrived and how would she be able to help him extract her from the clutches of the mass murdering psychopath?

His thoughts were halted by the familiar voice of a certain bird, who was no longer anxiously tweeting but instead emitting a series of loud squeaks, his voice shrill and urgent. Kakashi took care in his approach, peering through the branches and down into the clearing he'd heard the noises coming from, ensuring that this time it would be him with the element of surprise and not the Akatsuki ninja.

What he saw, he hadn't expected in any scenario he might have dreamed up. It was bad enough that Sasuke was laid on the ground, twitching in a crumpled heap, but seeing Itachi's hands wrapped around Hermione's waist, their faces pressed together in what appeared to be a very mutually enjoyed kiss…. Now that beggared belief.

"Hermione…" he uttered under his breath, the face under the mask stricken and confused.

~oOo~

When she'd seen Itachi put Sasuke under the effects of his torture jutsu, Hermione had acted impulsively, aiming to distract him from his target in the most effective way she could think of. Knowing that it would be hopeless to try and attack Itachi in hand to hand combat and certainly not wanting to involve herself in a situation involving any sharp objects, that left her only two options. The first was to try and enter his mind and prevent the attack, which was dangerous considering his focus on his brother. She didn't know what sort of fireworks her presence in a two way jutsu would create and now wasn't the time to be experimenting. The second was certainly unconventional, but then nobody had ever accused Hermione Granger of being dull and ordinary. Not since school in any case!

The connection between Itachi and Sasuke already made, she knew that simply stepping in between them would have no effect, so she quickly moved in close to the elder brother and so as not to provoke a bad reaction, gently brushed her fingers against the outside of his left hand. Finding her presence unnoticed, at least for now, she took his other hand in hers and slowly pulled him in close, pressing her breasts into his chest and then placing his limp hands under her tunic and around her waist. Finding her skin under his hands, what remained of Itachi in his own body began to stir and she found his fingers taking a hold of her, resting loosely on her hips. The embrace secure, Hermione raised her own hands to the nape of Itachi's neck and pulled him in close, resting his face softly against the join of her neck and shoulder and playing with the tied strands of his long hair before it joined his ponytail, trying to stimulate the sensitive skin at the back of his neck.

The grip on her waist now becoming more secure as she did her work, Hermione was satisfied to note that the grip around her midriff wasn't the only thing which was becoming firmer, although the swiftly manifesting hardness pressing into the muscles of her lower stomach forced her to maintain her own concentration, Hermione keen to ensure that she didn't bring Itachi out of the spell too quickly and cause any damage to the hopeless genin in his mental grasp.

"Itachi-san", she whispered in his ear, before nibbling at his lobe and trailing her tongue around the underside, bringing forth a shiver. Good. She rubbed the skin of her cheek against the stubble of his and blew gently on the wet skin she'd left behind under his ear, only exacerbating the sensation of coldness against the heat of her face.

Hermione gasped as the effect of her attention had its first significant impact, Itachi's hands lowering to her bottom and gripping hard, lifting and pulling her into him. Their groins now rubbing together as Hermione desperately stood on the tips of her toes, she began to wonder if Itachi was back in full control of his senses or not. Pursing her lips and trying to bring her head backwards from a grasp which was becoming more and more amorous, she saw Itachi's eyes shift to meet hers with a twinkle in them. Before she could do anything else, his lips were on hers and she couldn't help but melt into his arms, the feeling of his mouth and body against hers distracting her in the same way she'd intended to do to him.

"Mmmmfffthmmffggrrr… Sasuke?" she asked him, her concern for the boy still at the forefront of her mind and trying to extract Itachi's tongue from her mouth.

"Oh don't worry about him, he'll be okay in a few days."

Hermione groaned as Itachi lifted one of her thighs up and slid one hand dangerously close to where she was increasingly wanting him to head. "No, I mean, why? What did you mean by 'not ready'?"

Itachi kissed her hard in an effort to shut her up, but Hermione was having none of it, avoiding him and narrowing her eyes in annoyance. He sighed. "Look. I can't tell you anything because its personal and between us, ok?"

It wasn't ok, but she could wait to find out. It wasn't as if Sasuke was going anywhere. Although, as she enjoyed Itachi's exploring hands on her a little too much, this time for real, she wondered why Satchimo was now twittering from the other side of the clearing and why she suddenly felt like she was being watched.

The familiar voice coming from the trees drawled mockingly. "It isn't enough to murder your entire clan, Itachi? I hope you're happy now you've finished the job."

Hermione extracted herself from Itachi, who was quickly doing the same, switching to his normal state of alertness in an instant. The speed at which he regained his composure infuriated Hermione, who was far too busy rearranging her clothes to look cool.

"Hatake Kakashi, always a pleasure", Itachi addressed the figure in the shadows.

Kakashi…" Hermione began, but he cut her off.

"We need to have a conversation, Hermione-san, but first I have to deal with this scum."

Itachi's voice came through loud and clear into her mind. "Hermione-san, I have no more power. What we experienced has left me completely drained. If I engage Kakashi, he will most likely kill me. Do you trust me?"

She wondered how the Uchiha was managing it, whether the connection they'd made earlier enabled them to share thoughts, or whether it was simply a gift they both possessed and only the use of the seal had awakened it in her. That concern was secondary to the one she now faced, however, as she saw Kakashi's pose turn from tense and angry into battle ready and cold.

"I trust you", she sent back telepathically. "However, in return for that trust I need you to give me yours, completely", she informed him, pausing for emphasis. "Do you want to live?"

She saw the smirk cross his features and a look of longing sneak through his eyes as they flickered towards Sasuke. There was way more to this guy than she'd first figured. Fine.

"Kakashi, Itachi-san", she started, stepping forward towards the tree line the Konoha ninja had now emerged from. "If you fight now I will never cross paths with either of you again."

Kakashi didn't flinch. "Looks like you hadn't planned on seeing me again, in any case."

She couldn't exactly complain about that interpretation but ploughed on regardless. "Look, there's more to this than meets the eye. Will you let me explain somewhere away from here, before Itachi's bloodthirsty partner shows up and takes you apart?"

Kakashi, to his great irritation, was taking her threat very seriously. Itachi alone was bad enough, but both Akatsuki, with a prone Sasuke and a woman with divided loyalties? Too much. "Very well", he muttered between gritted teeth, before pointing to Itachi with a kunai. "What about him?"

Hermione gave Kakashi a warm and grateful look, a look she noticed Itachi viewed with some interest, then walked to his side, conscious that there might not be a lot of time to get this resolved.

Itachi was silent for a moment, then bowed his head. "Until next time then, Hermione-san", he told her with a stare that spoke volumes, then turned to Kakashi. "I will respect Hermione's wishes on this occasion. You may leave and I will not follow. At least not immediately", he told him with a sneer, before leaping into the trees with a final glance toward Hermione, leaving her in the uncomfortable presence of her former paramour, Sasuke already mounted on his powerful shoulders and ready to leave.

"Looks like you have a lot of explaining to do", Kakashi finally said, his voice strained and his back to her, before sprinting off ahead.

Hermione waited for a second before following him, her face turned back to where Itachi had departed and a set of feelings hitting her which she didn't have the time to deal with. She tried to find his subconscious signature but failed. "You were right. Itachi-san", she said quietly. "Easy choices elude us sometimes."

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	15. Wake up, little Sasuke!

Satchimo couldn't have voiced his displeasure more clearly. Since the little bird had attached himself to her, Hermione hadn't ever seen him acting in the way he was doing now, perched on top of the inert form of Sasuke, in turn carried by Kakashi. As she walked behind them through the forest and in some undetermined direction, head bowed and deep in thought, she couldn't help but feel aggrieved that even her familiar had taken the side of the Konoha jounin.

This annoyed her. It wasn't like she was bound to Kakashi or owed him anything. They were two adults and if he'd taken it upon himself to be her 'Knight in Shining Armour' then that was his problem and not hers. She'd managed the best way she possibly could and it wasn't her fault if that damn seal had caused her to go all horny. Well… perhaps a little her fault in enjoying it so much, but still…

"You do know he'd be in far worse shape if I hadn't distracted Itachi", she said finally, breaking the silence of what felt like hours.

The quiet continued in front of her, the masked man she was trying to placate simply lengthening his stride. Satchimo tweeted in surprise as he nearly fell off his perch, aiming a peck of his beak at the top of Kakashi's head, earning himself a face full of spiky hair and a flailing hand for his trouble.

This carried on for another mile or so, Hermione content that she had broached conversation and determined not to give in to the obvious sulking of her companion. When he did speak, it was delivered tersely and without turning around.

"How do you mean, a worse shape?" Kakashi asked. "The boy is barely breathing. I have no idea what that bastard put him through."

That missed the point she had tried to make, but fair enough, she had to walk on eggshells for a little while. "If he'd wanted to kill Sasuke, he could have done it. You know that", she answered.

Kakashi did know that, but it was an inconvenient truth and he wasn't about to allow it to get in the way of his righteous indignation. "I don't even know why you're here. Why don't you go back to your lover?" he shot back.

Hermione sighed and covered her face with her hands as they continued walking. "Look, can we stop for a minute? You must be exhausted and if they were following us they'd have caught up my now. We need to talk properly. I can explain. I think…"

The request was timed well. Kakashi, fatigued already from his bout with Kisame, gently laid Sasuke down on the grass and sat on a fallen tree, practicality overcoming his desire to make her feel bad.

"So", he began, his face conveying his disgust at her insofar as one eye could. "Talk, if you think you can justify cosying up to that appalling man."

Hermione figured it'd be a bad idea to attempt to disclose Itachi's more appealing qualities, especially considering her audience, so she decided to play the only card she could. "I was alone, with two people who could have killed me at any moment if they thought I was planning something. I had to play along", she told him, attempting to make eye contact.

Kakashi, staring resolutely at a very interesting patch of grass, shook his head. "Looked like more than just playing along to me."

"So, what if it was?" she queried, anger crossing her features for the first time. "As far as I was concerned I'd been kicked out of Konoha and you didn't stick up for me at all. Itachi has shown himself to be trustworthy, to me at least, and has shown me nothing but courtesy." That wasn't entirely true. Binding her initially, then indulging himself in his jutsu by dressing her up in a sexy outfit couldn't exactly be classified as 'courteous', but in general, he'd been the rakish gentleman to Kisame's brutal nutter.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her description, but was otherwise silent, considering her words.

Hermione decided to press on. "Besides, if I wanted to stay there, do you think I would have engineered it so I'd be standing here, trying to explain everything to you?"

"Engineered? How?" he asked.

"You seem to forget how capable I am", she pointed out, taking a step toward him before stopping again and biting her lip. "What you saw was me trying to stop Itachi from hurting Sasuke. I know it looked like I was enjoying myself and, you know what? I was. However, that doesn't take away from the intent. Don't your female ninjas all end up seducing people to get their way?"

"So you don't… _like _him?" Kakashi asked her, the final two words almost forced out of his mouth as he acknowledged her point.

Hermione felt like taking pity on him, but also wanted to stand her ground. "You want me to be completely honest?" she asked.

Kakashi just grunted, which she took as an affirmation.

"I find him deep, thoughtful, difficult to anger and more stable than you made him out to be. I know that he finds me attractive and from a physical perspective I admit to the feeling being mutual. However", she continued, sensing a sarcastic comment was coming her way and narrowing her eyes to cut it off before starting again. "However, my relationship with him was nothing more than convenience based on an enforced situation. Like I said, had I wanted to stay, I could probably have incapacitated you both, considering your weakened states."

She could sense Kakashi was frowning in thought behind his mask at this new piece of information. "How would you have done that?"

"Based on the way you're talking to me, I'm not sure I should tell you. I'm beginning to think that the Akatsuki might offer me more than the vile treatment I've endured so far from your masters in that walled village you call home. Also, will you take off that damn mask when you talk to me? We're in the middle of the forest and nobody is going to see you."

The snort which came back from Kakashi could almost have been laughter. She gave him the warmest smile she could manage.

He complied with her request, the cloth coming away from his face to reveal a very sheepish looking and sad face. "I just thought…." he started, before the sentence tailed off.

"I like you, you idiot", Hermione told him. "Not Itachi."

As Kakashi nodded in acceptance, a mischievous grin eventually crossed his handsome features. "So you aren't going to join Akatsuki and become a criminal, instead revealing exactly how you could have defeated two of the strongest shinobi within a hundred miles?"

"Only if you stop being sarcastic and make us some food", she told him. "I'm bloody starving after walking through these bushes for however long."

So it was that she ended up confiding in Kakashi about the Akatsuki seal over a cooked (and quite delicious) rabbit, the now attentive jounin taking occasional notes and prompting her where necessary. Not that he needed to. The tale flowed from her, the discomfort she'd felt at being kidnapped only now coming out in endless sentences, describing everything in minute detail and only leaving out the bit she knew would hurt him.

As she finally finished talking, Kakashi leaned back, stretching and a satisfied look on his face. "So, to surmise, you're now potentially a hundred times more powerful than you were before, except that you don't have the knowledge to unlock the seal in order to utilise that power. Right?"

Hermione nodded. "Right."

Kakashi grinned at her. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

She knew he was teasing her. "You're going to tell me that you know how this seal functions, aren't you?"

He looked a little crestfallen. "Gah, you're spoiling my fun. As it happens, you're talking to the number one expert on seals. If Mr Sleepy over there could tell you, I fixed him up nicely after he got one and I'm pretty confident I can show you how yours works", he told her, pausing before continuing. "Just so long as you promise not to use it to practice evil and cause great devastation."

With this she burst out laughing, the days of keeping a straight face finally at an end and back with the one person she felt truly comfortable with. "Damn you, Hatake Kakashi. Damn you!"

Satchimo just looked confused, but she couldn't blame him. It had been one of those days.

~oOo~

"You were doing _what _with Itachi?!"

The incredulity emanating from Sasuke brought a smile unbidden to Hermione's lips. "I believe your sensei is referring to the method by which I stopped him from torturing you", she beamed at him, oblivious to the dead eyes and pout. "Perhaps I should have let him carry on?"

Sasuke just shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself. "I know, but… My brother? Really?"

"When he wasn't trying to recruit me into Akatsuki or tying me to chairs, he was actually quite charming."

If anything, Sasuke's face dropped even further, especially at the mention of her being tied up. He looked appealingly toward Kakashi.

"Oh, don't look at me", his master said, to Hermione's delight a twinkle appearing in his eye as he was amused by the obvious innuendo. "I was shocked too until she told me everything."

Well, Hermione thought, almost everything. "I'm just glad you're okay", she told the genin. "For a second there I actually thought you were in trouble, but I didn't feel any overly hostile intent coming from him, which I guess is demonstrated by the fact you aren't dead."

The pout was thrust forward yet further. "He put me in a time and space jutsu and repeatedly made me watch my own family being murdered. I don't know what you think hostile is, Hermione-sama, but it was hardly _nice._"

She just shrugged and gave him a reassuring look. "Whatever the purpose of that torture was, I don't think its quite as simple as you think, Sasuke."

Kakashi sighed. Hermione had tried to explain the connection she'd established with Itachi on several occasions in the last couple of days. She obviously had some insight into his motivations, but he just couldn't get his head around why she insisted on speaking about the missing-nin as if he was a sane, rational human being, as opposed to a psychopath. "So why _did _he waste his chakra on a thirteen year old genin?" Kakashi asked. "Especially considering I was just around the corner. It seems very risky and unnecessary when you consider his aptitude in other ways."

"I would have taken the bastard if he hadn't", Sasuke bragged.

This brought a shared look of amusement from his two companions.

"I hardly think so", Kakashi stated. "Even without his jutsu, Itachi could take you apart. What confuses me is why, if Hermione thinks he's not a sadist, did he make you suffer and not simply finish the job he started when he assassinated the rest of your clan?"

Hermione, after she'd flashed a glare toward Sasuke for the disrespectful snort he directed at Kakashi, thought that an excellent question, one which would need serious consideration, particularly if the confused boy at her feet was to find some sort of perspective when it came to what happened to him as a child. She softened her eyes and gave him a sympathetic look. "Look, Sasuke. Nobody is saying that Itachi doesn't deserve to answer for what he did."

The look of anger which crossed his face made her raise her eyebrows impatiently but she allowed him an answer.

"I _will_ make him pay for it. Maybe not now, but when I become more powerful I will hunt him down and he will wish he hadn't crossed me or my family."

If he wasn't so pale and weak, looking like all the life had been sucked out of him and about as dangerous as the average kitten, she'd have taken the threat seriously. As it was, Sasuke looked like what he was, a boy in a man's world. However, Hermione of all people knew what happened when people went bad.

"I'm sure a lot of people in Konoha would welcome that, Sasuke, yet…", Kakashi began, before being interrupted by yet another snort of derision.

"This isn't about Konoha. This is about Uchiha Sasuke and avenging my family", the genin muttered, almost to himself, before holding the gaze of his annoyed sensei. "I will have my vengeance."

Hermione shivered at the cold glint in Sasuke's eyes. She'd seen that look before and it never augured well. Oddly enough, she'd never seen it in Itachi. His eyes gave very little away, yet their darkness and depth hid so much more than the sheer venom she saw in those of the young man in front of her.

"Enough!" Kakashi snapped, his calm demeanour gone in an instant and the effect Sasuke had on Hermione clearly replicated on his master. "You are a shinobi of Konoha and you took an oath to protect the people of this nation when you put that metal plate on your forehead."

Sasuke simply glared at him.

Kakashi wasn't about to stop, however. "The minute you let one thing come before that oath is the minute you become a liability to your team, to your friends and to everyone you swore to protect."

Hermione cringed as she saw what the response would be. The Uchiha didn't let her down.

"So, when you came chasing after a banished civilian in direct contravention to an order from the Leaf Kage… Did you consider your team then? Or was that all about Hatake Kakashi?"

Kakashi bristled. "That… is different."

Sasuke smirked and got up, turning his back on the pair of them and walking off, his strides lengthening as he felt the strength in his legs returning. "You're full of it", he said under his breath, then left.

Hermione saw Kakashi stand and decided to intervene before he chased after his protégé. "Kakashi, wait!" she cried as he set off in pursuit. "Let him go."

The jounin took in the hand clamped around his wrist and all the tenseness in his body simply drained away. He slumped to the floor, completely crestfallen, pulling Hermione down with him as she refused to relinquish her grip on his arm. "He's right, isn't he?" he asked her.

"He's a lost boy and all he can think about is getting revenge on his brother. He needs guidance from his mentor and he clearly needs some attention. But yes, he was right", she answered. "Why did you come after me?"

"I think you know", he told her, the visible part of his face immediately flushing.

Hermione bit her lip, descending to his level and cupping his face with her free hand, gently encouraging him to look into her eyes. "I think I do, too, but I want you to tell me. You came all this way, risked your life and that of that poor, deluded boy. For what?"

Days and weeks of pent up worry in Kakashi's chest suddenly threatened to pour out. "I couldn't let you die. I couldn't sit there behind those walls and let those men do bad things to you, or worse turn you into something awful."

"I was fine", she told him, frowning slightly yet never taking her eyes from his. "Hermione Granger can take care of herself. I think you saw that."

"A little too graphically, yes", he responded and she could tell he was smiling ruefully. "However, my past…"

The pause spoke volumes and she waited for Kakashi to carry on, respectful of the magnitude of what he was trying to say. She let go of his wrist and, moving downward, linked fingers with his, giving Kakashi's hand a gentle squeeze.

"My past", he started again. "My past has been difficult and I haven't told you everything."

"You don't have to", Hermione told him.

"Please, let me explain", he sighed, looking around to see if Sasuke was gone completely and, satisfied the genin was nowhere in sight, took off his mask. "I lost someone years ago because I didn't, well… _couldn't_ save her. I won't make that mistake again. Not through inaction. I will not let go of the people I love because some old men in an office want to…."

He stopped as he realised what he'd said. Hermione felt her heart beating faster. "People you love?" she asked quietly.

Kakashi's eyes couldn't hold hers and she could tell he was terrified of her response, the words coming from his mouth said with feeling and passion but without considered thought. He just nodded as her hand dropped away from his face and into her lap, the other holding his more and more tightly.

He began to talk again, the heartfelt words pouring from his mouth, which she watched intently, her chest pounding. "When they sent you away I felt so lost, like everything I wanted was being taken away from me again and again. I know this has so much to do with me and my past, but when you arrived, I never expected.. I mean I wanted to…"

"You aren't making any sense", she told him warmly as his sentences dissolved before they even began, his chain of thought overtaking his ability to speak.

"I know", he answered and gave her a very sexy looking grin, his eyes pleading with her to rescue him from his embarrassment.

As Hermione closed her eyes and shook her head to herself, thinking that her life was far less complicated when she'd simply had to hunt down Death Eaters, she felt Kakashi's lips brush the side of her mouth.

"I love you too", she whispered, just before he kissed her.

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